Wednesday, August 25, 1999
Sewer fight shifts to site test
Sanitation district could go to court
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
FORT WRIGHT — Opposing sides in the controversy over a proposed sewage treatment plant in rural Boone County are headed for a showdown.
Officials from the Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky want to inspect and conduct tests on the site where they are considering building the plant, a farm in western Boone County near Belleview Bottoms. The farm is owned by Don Stites.
Mr. Stites' attorney, Covington lawyer Phil Taliaferro, has sent the district a letter denying officials access to the property.
Mr. Stites wants the district to wait until an environmental assessment of the property is complete. The assessment is being conducted by Northern Kentucky University and is paid for by Boone County Fiscal Court.
The sanitation district's board of directors wants to proceed with its own assessment and testing of the property, and are prepared to go to court to do so.
The board voted unanimously Tuesday to begin the process of getting access to Mr. Stites' land.
Under state law, the district has the authority to go on the land to determine if it is adequate for construction of the $100 million plant.
The district plans to follow state law and send Mr. Stites a letter, telling him that in 10 days engineers, geotechnical experts and others will show up to conduct their tests and assessments of the site.
If Mr. Stites in some way prevents them from coming on the land, the district will take him to Boone Circuit Court and seek access to the property from a judge, said Jim Wolterman, an attorney working for the district.
Mr. Stites will be compensated for any damage caused by the assessment, said sanitation district board chairman Rick Kennedy.
“I am disappointed the sanitation district is taking this action ... before the environmental study is completed,” Mr. Stites said Tuesday.
Tuesday night, Boone County Fiscal Court tabled a resolution opposing building the plant in Boone County.
“The Sanitation District seems willing to consider a wastewater treatment plant in Gallatin County,” said Robert Hay, who introduced the resolution.
Boone County Judge-executive Gary Moore said he knows the commissioners would love the treatment plant to be built outside the county.
“But in the end, if Dry Creek cannot be expanded and Gallatin County does not materialize, it has to go somewhere.”
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