8/23/2012 - West Side Leader
     

A settlement in Bath Township’s long-running legal dispute with Blue Heron Nursery has been finalized.

During the Bath Board of Trustees meeting Aug. 20, Bath attorney Robert Konstand told trustees, “We have an agreement now that we can enforce through the courts, and we know what the rules are with regard to agricultural uses of a residentially zoned property in the township. This has been a hotly contested matter for probably five or six years now, and hopefully there will be an end in sight to the problem on Medina Road.”

According to the settlement, Kaan and Essie Widmer Aydin filed suit against the township in regard to a disagreement as to what constitutes lawful agricultural use of a residential property at 5117 Medina Road. The Aydins are owners and proprietors of Blue Heron Nursery.

Under terms of the settlement, the Aydins are permitted to operate only a wholesale nursery business at the property and will be open only from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 7:30 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. The business is not permitted to be open on Sundays, according to court documents.

In other business, Trustee Elaina Goodrich outlined plans for a $150,608 national scenic byway grant awarded to the Heritage Corridors of Bath for infrastructure and engineering to create a scenic byway. The byway would be located on a 7.5-acre parcel along North Cleveland-Massillon Road just north of Gasoline Alley. Goodrich said the property has not yet been purchased, but the organization already had received a grant to fund the purchase.

The most recent grant is to fund the infrastructure, Goodrich said. The organization’s current plan includes a sign, double-lane gravel driveway, six-car gravel parking lot, information kiosk, six-sided shelter area with a concrete floor and restroom and a trail loop that crosses Bath and North Fork creeks. The organization’s plan also includes six picnic tables and shrubbery, Goodrich said. The township match for the grant is $39,100, she added.

The audience for the board’s meeting was considerably larger than usual. Several candidates for the township administrator position attended the meeting on the request of board members, said Executive Assistant Hannah Krumheuer. At the conclusion of its agenda, the board went into executive session to discuss personnel in the administration department. All job candidates were asked to stay while the board was in executive session, which Board President Becky Corbett estimated would last an hour-and-a-half. Interim Township Administrator William Snow was among the candidates.

In other action, the board:

• scheduled the township trick-or-treat night for Oct. 28 from 5 to 7 p.m. to coincide with trick-or-treat nights in Copley and Fairlawn;

• approved a one-year service agreement with McDonald Equipment Co. to maintain a standby generator at the Bath Center building at a cost of $1,525;

• accepted the resignations of seasonal park workers Dean Zawistowski and Luke Berry;

• noted the Bath Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting for Aug. 21 was canceled and all cases scheduled for hearing will be heard at the Sept. 18 BZA meeting;

• accepted the resignation of Deputy Zoning Inspector and Administrative Assistant Martha Ferch, whom trustees said would be retiring;

• adopted a resolution removing Squires, Sanders and Dempsey from the township list of approved legal counsel. Snow said the firm had been employed while the township paid off bonds. Since the bonds have been retired, the firm is no longer needed;

• appointed resident Bill Healy to the Architectural Review Board for a term of Aug. 20 through July 1, 2014; and

• approved payment of $133,955 in requisitions and purchase orders.

Due to the Labor Day holiday, Sept. 3, the board’s next regular meeting will take place on a Tuesday, Sept. 4, at 7 p.m. in the trustees’ meeting room on the lower level of the Bath Administration Building, 3864 W. Bath Road.

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