Village Council's 'hands tied' over propane tank installation

REPUBLIC — Republic Village Council met Monday, with several citizens addressing safety concerns regarding the installation of an 18,000-gallon propane tank by Cole's Energy within proximity to multiple residencies. The proposed installation of the above-ground propane tank is to be located at 105 Kilbourne St. According to the County Auditor's website, the property was purchased by DC Northwest LLC for $19,000 in 2017. Citizen's Comments Before community members addressed council, Mayor Don Holmer reminded speakers that "things will not be getting ugly" and "this will not continue to interrupt council sessions further" said Holmer. Amanda Dick, owner of the property behind where the propane tank is to be located just 54 ½ feet from her property. Dick addressed safety concerns regarding the close proximity of the tank to her property, "I just wish you (council) would've taken my family's safety into consideration when this was taking place," said Dick. Holmer responded to the comment saying "I think we've taken the safety into consideration, it's just a matter of what we are able to do about it." Holmer continued by saying that everything Cole's has done is meeting the state's minimum safety guidelines, and that "by the time we were informed of the situation, it was too late to attempt to do anything about it." Resident Diane Carter, asked village solicitor Gina Grandillo if any ordinances could be put in place to prevent something like this from happening further. Grandillo said she "would be happy to check into it." Carter also made mention of including an ordinance for the installation of similarly sized anhydrous ammonia tanks. Concerns of people running the stop signs at the intersection of SR 18 and CR 19 were expressed by resident Cindy Dustin. Dustin said this is the first tank in a residential area in the county of this size. "What if we have another accident like the one the village saw last week," Dustin asked. "How will we prevent that from happening?" Holmer said in response, "Unfortunately that's an ongoing thing, we already had put in more warning signs for visibility as well as rumble strips." Dave Fries, a relative of Dick's, contacted the Ohio Fire Marshal's office, which conducted a formal investigation and in a report found that the minimum safety guidelines had all been met by Cole's Energy. Fries also contacted Randy Carpenter, owner of the US-224 and OH-19 truck stop, who said he would be willing to "lease, rent or sell land there to alleviate the safety concerns." Don Martin, who (now retired) served as Fire Chief of Republic for several years, shared several important points. The first was "This couldn't have happened as quickly as it appears. Someone at Cole's has had this in the works for at least four months." From his experience as chief, Martin said that the permits with the state alone cannot move that quickly, which is just one of many prerequisites to building a storage tank like this. Martin said chances are almost slim to none, on the off-chance the tank does explode "that every property within a 2-mile radius' windows will be blown out, anyone who lives within two blocks of the tank will suffer severe second and third-degree burns, if not worse" and that "per the Department of Transportation an evacuation radius of 1 mile is the minimum." "With propane, there is also the risk of what is called a BLEVE, or a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion," Martin said. Martin continued by saying for a tank that size at full capacity, the minimum amount of water needed in the event of a catastrophe would be around or above 400 gallons, noting that roughly half hits a firefighter's target on average and that a safe bet would be 800-1,000 gallons. This would require a 1,000 gpm pump, something the village does not currently have. Several other members voiced their concerns on the matter before circling back to Amanda Dick, who stated that "we don't want this to be the people versus council, we want to work together". Members of the community continued to encourage council to do something to prevent similar matters from happening in the future. Another raised the question if it would be possible to put a tax on Cole's Energy propane in the village. Grandillo said "Legally, it's not really feasible because it cannot be a targeting tax, it would have to be a uniform imposition. It's not impossible, but would open the village up to legal liability." "As a government agency, we are limited by the constitution and by the State of Ohio, and telling an entity what they can and cannot do with their property rights becomes a slippery slope," Grandillo said. "However, a private lawsuit or civil matter is probably your best bet to get the quickest enforcement of this. You as citizens are not a government agency, and not bound to the same limitations we are as a government. I would highly encourage, if you believe this is directly affecting you, to talk to a lawyer." In Other News One piece of legislation was passed at Monday's meeting: Resolution 2024-10: A Resolution to Appoint Kevin Scherly as Village Auxiliary Officer. During the administrative reports, Crystal Hoepf, village administrator shared that there is another tile break located on the south end of Washington Street. Additionally, the asbestos assessment of the town hall will be completed this week with an estimate of $1,270.00 Hoepf also noted that the water tower is still leaking, despite attempts by the village to patch it themselves. The patch they put in is "slowing down the rate of erosion around the hole," per Hoepf, "but further welds would likely weaken the surrounding structure." Also briefly discussed was the creation of a new park project, containing a half-mile walking path around the village's park. Attempts to contact Grandillo for further questioning on behalf of the village administration were unsuccessful.