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City responds to CBC case
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- By Kate Cole
- Tuesday, July 17, 2012
- Hits: 288
The city has responded to Stephanie Reichling's claims about the facts in the CBC Recycling case.
In a June 2012 issue story in East Village Magazine, Reischling said that vandals were responsible for the hazardous conditions on her business property that forced her into bankruptcy. She said the city failed to file in a timely manner for bankruptcy funds to clean up the mess and she accused the city of mishandling the bankruptcy proceeding. She said at one time there was $30,000 available for cleanup. But because the city didn't file for the funds in a timely manner, the amount was reduced to $10,000.
Assistant City Attorney Angela Watkins discussed court documents related to the CBC Recycling court case with East Village Magazine July 2.
The court records show the city's attorney's office numerous attempts from September 2011 to June 2012 to compel Reischling to comply with city ordinances and clean up the hazardous blight at the site of her former recycling business at 13th and South Saginaw streets. Reischling admitted responsibility at a court hearing March 26 and was ordered to clean up the mess or face jail time.
In a phone conversation with Sam Sweet, bankruptcy trustee for Reischling, Sweet indicated that the city was not negligent in its handling of the case.
There was only a little over $10,000 from the sale of equipment, Sweet said, less money than expected.
"The city didn't give up. We worked hard to get this judgment and the bankruptcy proceeds," said Peter Bade, city attorney. "We got the money because we cared about the city and devoted the resources we have to prosecute and force Reichling to clean up the property."
The money was transferred May 17 to local contractor Mike Bartman to clean up the premises.
"I went over and above the contracted amount in time and materials," Bartman said. "The volume of plastic waste was tremendous. We only made a small dent in the cleanup."
Although Bartman couldn't say how long the materials were on the property, he said it was apparent that the volume of trash took several months, if not years, to accumulate.
Originally, city inspector Mike Rieter told Judge Herman Marable, 68th District Court, who heard the municipal civil infraction case until the case was turned over to Judge Cathy Dowd May 15, that he estimated the cleanup cost to be $100,000.
In a recent phone conversation, Bartman agreed that to finish the job it would take about $100,000.
Bartman also said he believed vandals were responsible for the fire on the property that took place earlier this year.
"Vandals took the structural steel from a building that burned on the property. They set fire to the building to loosen up the metal. Today's scrappers were last night's arsonists," Bartman said.
Reischling's problems, besides the municipal civil infraction to cleanup the hazardous site, include her failure to appear in court twice. Marable held her in contempt of court and sentenced her to 75 days in jail beginning May 1 — a sentence that was never imposed.
The case is pending in Dowd's courtroom.
David Caswell, from the Citizens Nuisance Task Force that monitors the property, takes pictures of the work and provides them to Dowd.
"The worst thing that can happen is that citizens will foot the bill for the remaining clean up," Caswell said.
Reischling has also filed personal bankruptcy, according to Sweet.
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