Springdale appoints injunction plaintiff to vacant council seat; demolition permit renewed

A man involved in litigation to block the implosion of the boiler house in Springdale has been appointed to a two-year term on borough council.

Springdale Council on Tuesday appointed Joe Kern, 40, of Duquesne Court, to fill a vacancy left by former Councilwoman Eileen Miller.

Kern said he sought the seat “to try to make a difference.” He ran a last-minute write-in campaign for a council seat in November, which was unsuccessful.

Kern was one of four applicants — and one of three nominated — to fill the seat, which expires at the end of 2025.

Kern, former Councilman Kevin Wilhelm, Carmen Canonico, and Kimberly Hickman applied for the seat; Kern, Wilhelm and Canonico were nominated by council members.

Council first voted on appointing Wilhelm to council, which failed. Then, council members Mike Ziencik, Dolly Stephens, Toni Robbins, Shawn Fitzgerald Jr. and Dan Copeland voted to appoint Kern; Jason Overly was opposed.

Because the vote to appoint Kern passed, council didn’t vote on Canonico’s nomination.

Kern is one of 16 residents who filed an injunction lawsuit in September against Charah Solutions, property owner of the former Cheswick Generating Station, and contractors Grant Mackay Co. and Controlled Demolition Inc., seeking to block an implosion of the boiler house at the power plant site.

Residents claimed the June 2 implosion of two chimneys at the site caused harm to the community and said the implosion of the boiler house would cause additional harm.

The defendants maintain that an implosion is the safest way to take down the structure.

That case is still hung up in the courts. The judge presiding over the case granted a preliminary injunction in December and set guidelines to be followed before consideration of dissolving the injunction. Charah, Grant Mackay and CDI have since filed notice of appeals to the state Superior Court of the judge’s order.

The borough is not named in the lawsuit.

Kern said he is not concerned about being involved in the litigation and serving on borough council.

“My main goal is to watch for the future,” he said.

Demolition permit renewed

In other business, council renewed the demolition permit for the former power plant site.

It was set to expire Wednesday. Last week, the Springdale Planning Commission recommended renewing the permit.

Charah officials previously said that renewing the permit would allow them to continue their efforts to remediate the site. Most of the site is being demolished by “conventional means,” such as taking things apart, using excavators or pulling things down.

Council’s vote to approve the permit was 4-2, with one abstention. Ziencik, Overly, Copeland and Stephens voted for the permit’s renewal. Robbins and Fitzgerald voted against. Kern abstained.

Ziencik, the council president, said the permit renewal is nothing more than continuing the conventional means to demolish the former power plant. He acknowledged that the state regulates blasting.

“The faster this comes down, the more economic growth we can have in this borough,” Ziencik said.

Two people who are plaintiffs in the injunction suit questioned council’s decision to renew the permit. Linda Schafer said she is concerned with the permit fee.

“I was one of the seven that just basically rubber-stamped and overlooked it, so that’s 14% (of the blame). I’ll take the blame for that. And the other six people should take that same blame instead of pushing the blame,” Ziencik said of when the permit was first issued a year ago.

Ziencik pointed to attorney Chelsea Dice’s remarks from the Jan. 10 planning commission meeting where she said the borough likely wouldn’t survive a court challenge if council imposed conditions on the permit. At the borough code doesn’t allow the authority to put additional conditions on the permit.

Brittni Bair, another plaintiff in the lawsuit and a former councilwoman, railed against council’s decision. She believes the permit was improperly granted the first time.

Springdale’s code enforcement officer, Ed Crates, continues to maintain it was properly granted.

“I want to make it very clear that we’re not fighting to stop them from continuing to work there and to better our community,” Bair said. “We are fighting to do this the right way. And tonight, you all as representatives that voted yes to this did the complete and polar opposite of protecting our community.”