NORTHWEST PRESS
Your Community Press newspaper serving Colerain Township, Green Township, Groesbeck, Monfort Heights, Pleasant Run, Seven Hills, White Oak
WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2015
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Rumpke, Colerain trustees tilt over landfill in court Matt Koesters mkoesters@enquirer.com
Ron Schwarm knew what he was getting into a decade ago when he built his home on Fay Lane in Colerain Township, a residential street off Struble Road just east of Interstate 275. On most days, it’s a nice place to live. But there are some days – generally hot ones, with an eastward breeze – on which being outside is nearly unbearable. “The smells come right over the expressway,� Schwarm said. “We can’t have cookouts, it gets so bad.� Schwarm and his neighbors
worry that those days will become more common if Rumpke gets its wish: to expand its sanitary landfill eastward by 206 acres. The landfill, which occupies 340 acres, is where more than 2 million people, 20,000 businesses and 50 municipalities in a 60-mile radius – including the city of Cincinnati and many of its suburbs – deposit their garbage. Standing in Rumpke’s way are the Colerain Township trustees, who in 2006 denied Rumpke’s request to rezone the land east of the landfill. The two parties have been litigating the issue ever since. The latest round of legal wranglings is
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THE ENQUIRER/CARA OWSLEY
Trucks line up at the Rumpke landfill off Colerain Aveune and Struble Road in Colerain Township.
happening this week in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. Rumpke contends that the township trustees’ denial of its 2006 request to rezone the land directly east of the landfill constitutes a violation of the company’s constitutional rights, while the trustees argue that the decision to limit the landfill to its current boundaries was legal and made for the good of the township’s residents and other businesses. Township Administrator Jim Rowan declined to comment on the suit. Trustee Dennis Deters
also declined, as he and fellow Trustees Melinda Rinehart and Jeff Ritter are named witnesses in the case. According to the township’s trial brief, the presence of the landfill has led to several incidents of air pollution and water contamination that violate Ohio Protection Environmental Agency rules. “While these environmental violations are regulated and controlled by the Ohio EPA, they have a deleterious effect on Colerain Township and its residents,� according to the brief.
In 2012, the trustees successfully fended off an attempt by Rumpke to have itself classified as a utility, but only after escalating the fight to the Ohio Supreme Court. A Rumpke win in that case would have exempted the company from local zoning regulations. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled against Rumpke on the public utility question, but the case over the constitutionality of the township’s zoning is proceeding and the trial is back underway in Hamilton County See LANDFILL, Page 2A
County launches use of e-poll books in August election Jennie Key jkey@communitypress.com
This summer’s special election will be extra special. The Hamilton County Board of Elections will unveil its new electronic poll books for voters Aug. 4. The e-poll books are digital lists that replace the traditional paper rolls used to check voters in at the polls when they arrive at their precinct to vote. Sherry Poland, executive director of the board of elections, says the new e-poll books won’t change the need for voters to bring identification, and they can make signing in quicker. Poland says voters will sign in on the iPad minis loaded with the voter file of the entire county. Moving to the electronic poll books means precinct workers will be able to direct voters to the correct poll because they will have that information right at their fingertips.
The voter signs the tablet digitally and a vote slip is printed without the worker having to write anything down, ensuring the person gets the correct ballot. If a voter goes to the wrong precinct, the tablets will warn the worker of the mistake. And the worker then can direct the person to the precinct where they can vote. There are two issues on the Aug. 4 ballot, so voters in Mount Healthy and St. Bernard will be the first to sign in using the epoll books. Poland says this is a good chance to work out the kinks before the e-polls books are put to the test in the general election in November. “These will make sure we are ready for the presidential election,� she said. “We have time to take care of any problems that might come up.� St. Bernard voters were also the first to use the electronic voting equipment introduced
SEASONAL FOCUS 5A
by the board of elections in February, 2006. The contract includes warranty and repair of the system and there will be paper backups to make sure voters are able to cast their ballots. Poland said e-poll book benefits stretch beyond flexibility and time saving. The new technology means no scanning, faster voter processing times, reduction of precinct election errors and the ability to generate reports that credit voters with their participation more quickly. Poland said the county has seen its new system in action. They observed the system in action in Hillsborough County, Florida, which has about 700,000 registered voters. Hamilton County has about 550,000. Precinct workers are training on the new equipment before the election, and Poland says she is hoping for a smooth launch now and in November,
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when all Hamilton County precincts will use the new system. The board of elections made a request for proposals in December and picked a vendor, Tenex Software Solutions. Poland said implementation of the new system is costing the county about $1.1 million but the state will reimburse about 85 percent of the money spent on the start up of the new system, thanks to a $12.75 million provision encouraging Ohio counties in the two-year Ohio budget bill signed into law June 30. That budget bill also eliminates the option of holding a special election in February. As a result of the legislation, a special election may be conducted only in August or on the day of a primary or general election – in May or November of most years. In presidential election years, a special election may be conducted in March rather than in May to coincide with the presidential primary election.
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JENNIE KEY/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
The Hamilton County Board of Elections bought 1,100 iPad minis to replace traditional poll books.
Vol. 94 No. 27 Š 2015 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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