Free Spirit Farm on Watt Road in Russell Township is finally free of deadline pressure from the Geauga County Health District and the Ohio Environmental…
Free Spirit Farm on Watt Road in Russell Township is finally free of deadline pressure from the Geauga County Health District and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Well, almost.
Testing for heavy metals remains on Kris Ropp’s horizon, but the 11.73 acres she recently bought for $155,000 has a pretty clean bill of health, as of Nov. 13.
Herb Shubik, registered sanitarian with the environmental division of the health district, said last Thursday Ropp has met the requirements laid down last June.
“After a couple of deadlines and a couple of little mix-ups along the way she was sent a notice of substantial compliance on Nov. 13,” Shubik said.
Last June, the health department, on a request from the OEPA, investigated complaints that Ropp had dumped construction and demolition debris on the property that was in foreclosure with Penny Mac Mortgage Investment Trust Holdings of Moorpark, Calif.
The farm was formerly owned by David Patterson, who bought it from Lisa Potti in 1991, according to the Geauga County auditor’s website.
Upon visiting the property last summer, Shubik cited Ropp with three violations having to do with dumping materials on the property without alerting the health district.
There were also allegations of filling a small pond with 300 tires, he said.
Ropp removed the last of the debris from the property just hours before Shubik arrived for an inspection on Nov. 12, he said, adding she had a backhoe and operator on the property for an inspection around the pond for the alleged tires.
Supported by a deputy from the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office, Shubik directed the backhoe operator to dig down seven feet in three locations around the pond.
“No tires were found in any holes,” Shubik said, adding the complaints lodged against Ropp were unsubstantiated.
Heaps of bricks, broken concrete and asphalt were classified as clean, hard fill and Ropp was given two years from July 2013 to put them to their intended use — creating pathways around the property, he said.
Ropp also presented a receipt showing a licensed transporter had taken the materials away for proper disposal, Shubik said.
The only immediate concern is the fill Ropp imported to raise the level of the front yard, he said.
Testing for heavy metals will be done and, if the count is acceptable, Ropp will be out from under the threat of a $250 per day fine and court costs.
Ropp purchased the property where she has operated a horse boarding and teaching facility on Sept. 4.
Free Spirit Farm is a horse boarding facility with indoor and outdoor arenas, two barns, multiple stalls and a 2,267-square-foot house.
