Medina will keep gate locked for brush dumping
Board said site has been overwhelmed by brush and construction material from outside village
Photo by Tom Rivers: A gate is locked to prevent access for people to dump brush at the village of Medina’s compost site on North Gravel Road next to Boxwood Cemetery. Medina officials said people were leaving construction materials and other debris.
MEDINA – The Village Board doesn’t anticipate reopening the compost site for brush dumping anytime soon.
The site has been closed for about six weeks for people to unload brush and lawn clippings. That was the intended use, but the site has been overwhelmed with construction materials and debris, as well as brush from people from outside the village.
The board was considering allowing village residents to come to the village office and get a key to open a locked gate, but has decided against that.
The village DPW picks up brush the first Monday each month. It is usually a one-day job, but this month it took 2 ½ days to get all the brush piles around the village, said Jason Watts, superintendent of the Department of Public Works.
He wants to go at least another month with the gate closed at the compost site and gauge how much brush is left around the village. He expected there would be more than normal due to people being unable to use the compost site.
“Right now is prime time for brush with everyone cleaning up their yards,” Watts told the Village Board on Monday evening. “I feel bad for residents leaving brush and having it sit out all month.”
He urged people to have it out in time for the first Monday of the month. He said the DPW starts picking up from the east end of the village first and then works through to the west end.
Trustee Mark Prawel said he favors just having the DPW pick up the brush and not having any dumping by residents or people outside the village. The brush piles are burned at the compost site, which is a concern for some neighbors.
He said the site has too much brush and other materials already.
“I don’t see how we can open it up when we don’t have a solution for getting rid of what we have now,” Prawel said.
Village Board members said they expect residents will get used to leaving the brush by the curb and not dumping at the compost site.
