LORDSTOWN Council to have contractor check Lafarge data

Village officials want more information before making a decision on the special-use permit. By SHERRI L. SHAULIS VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF LORDSTOWN -- Village officials want their own contractor to check if a local company's proposed landfill is exempt from ground-water monitoring. Council members voted Monday to allow solicitor Paul Dutton to retain CT Consultants Inc. of Austintown to check geological and engineering data from the Lafarge Corp. At a public hearing before the zoning appeals board last week, Lafarge representatives requested a special-use permit to operate a construction debris landfill at its site on Newton Falls-Bailey Road. In the documentation provided, Lafarge officials say the site would be exempt from ground-water monitoring since the proposed area has a clay bed that reaches from 15 to 60 feet deep. That, combined with a system designed to water down the debris, would keep the ground water safe, they said. "We just want our engineer to look into that," Dutton said. The public hearing on the permit request was continued until Oct. 28 to allow board of zoning appeals members to research the proposal further. First reading Council, meanwhile, gave first reading to an ordinance allowing for the upgrade of a waterline that feeds from the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District to the village water tower. Mayor Arno Hill said the line would be replaced during the project, which is expected to take at least a few years. The village gets its water supply from Niles and will continue to do so, Hill said. The 10-inch line will be replaced with a 24-inch line that will increase water flow and pressure, he said. Hill said more than $405,000 from the capital improvements fund has been earmarked for the project, along with $1.3 million from the state and $1.5 million from a low-interest loan through the Trumbull County commissioners. slshaulis@vindy.com