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LINCOLN — A small-town controversy over a giant mountain of scrap tires has added a new chapter: a recall election of village board members.
Under court order, members of the Alvo Village Board voted earlier this month to certify that a sufficient number of voter signatures had been gathered to force a recall election of two of its members, Robin LaPage, the board chair, and Larry Langer.
Meanwhile, the new operator of the tire recycling business said Monday that the tire pile is on track to be reduced to near zero by March, despite a state report in November that it had grown in size.
“I promised the community that we would clean that up, and we’re making process,” said Pete Langer, the owner of a Scottsbluff-based metal recycling firm that is taking over the Alvo business, which was co-owned by Larry, his father.
A dispute and lawsuit over the recall election is just the latest turmoil in Alvo, a rural village of 132 residents just south of Interstate 80 between Omaha and Lincoln.
After the scrap tire pile grew to more than twice the size permitted by the state, some Alvo residents complained. It took months, and a court order, before the business began coming into compliance with state environment and fire regulations. Before that, controversies involving ownership of the town’s rescue squad and the embezzlement, uncovered in 2017, of thousands of dollars of village funds, divided the community.
Recall organizers accused LaPage and Larry Langer of not doing enough to regulate the scrap tire business, where a mountain of tires once grew to more than twice the limit allowed by state law. Langer, who co-owns the scrap tire enterprise, was also accused of a conflict of interest.
The recall election has now been set for Feb. 15 in Alvo.
The board initially rejected the recall petition drive in October, prompting a lawsuit, filed by prominent Omaha trial attorney Dave Domina on behalf of recall organizers. That led to an order from a Cass County district judge compelling the Village Board to schedule the election or be held in contempt of court.
In September, the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy deemed that the tire pile at B-Rose Tire Recycling of Alvo had made “obvious visual progress” and had come into compliance with a consent order to reduce its scrap tire inventory to below 160,000 “passenger tire equivalents” or PTE, the measurement used by the agency.
But an inspection on Nov. 8 concluded that the number of scrap tires appeared to have increased. Drone photographs showed that required fire lanes between the 20- to 30-foot-tall tire piles had narrowed and one was blocked by tires.
A state inspector urged the owners of the scrap tire business to haul away the excess tires “as quickly as possible” and provide monthly reports on the progress. A state report noted that the scrap yard’s tire shredding machine was inoperative at the time.
But Pete Langer said Monday that photographs taken now would show significant progress in cleaning up the scrap yard. The shredding machine was put back in service two weeks ago, and the business now is hauling out four times as many tires as it takes in, he said.
Langer said a backlog of scrap tires started accumulating because his father suffered from cancer. He said the goal now is to reduce the inventory of scrap tires on the lot to a minimum, while continually moving old tires collected from service stations and repair shops into a shredder, and then to a landfill.
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Nebraska players celebrate after defeating Pittsburgh in their national semifinal game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday.
Nebraska players celebrate after they defeated Pittsburgh in their national semifinal game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday.
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paul.hammel@owh.com, 402-618-0009, twitter.com/paulhammelowh
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Reporter - Regional/state issues
Paul covers state government and affiliated issues. He specializes in tax and transportation issues, following the governor and the state prison system. Follow him on Twitter @PaulHammelOWH. Phone: 402-473-9584.
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Enough voters had signed petitions for a recall election on two members of the Alvo Village Board. But the board voted 5-0 against calling the election, which the lawsuit says is not an option.
An inspection report concluded that B-Rose Tire Recycling of Alvo had made "obvious visual progress" and had come into compliance with a Sept. 1 deadline to reduce its scrap tire inventory.
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