City applies for grant to clean up Main Street tire dump

The Olney City Council voted to apply for a grant to clean up giant piles of tires at an abandoned Main Street gas station while the police department pursues criminal action against the station’s former owners.

The council voted to authorize Interim City Manager Arpegea Pagsuberon to apply for a $41,056 regional solid waste grant from Nortex Regional Planning Commission to truck away and dispose of the piles, including discarded 18-wheeler and tractor tires.

Pagsuberon said she based the grant amount on a verbal quote from a vendor who was “surprised to see how many of those (large tires) we have.”

“We had a gentleman from Midlothian come out and look at our tires, and he was tire shocked, let’s put it that way,” she told the council.

The 20-foot pile of tires sits behind the former service station at 301 West Main Street, between the First Baptist Church and Interbank. Olney Code Enforcement Officer Dustin Hudson said he opened a case three years ago against the former service station operators Rosa and Mark Corwin for allegedly collecting tire disposal fees while failing to dispose of the tires.

Olney Police Chief Dan Birbeck told the council that the department will ask a court “to be seeking restitution for the city … as part of any viable plea deal.”

The case has been turned over to the 90th Judicial District Attorney’s Office for investigation, said Assistant District Attorney Phillip Gregory.

“I can confirm that the case has been brought to our office and is currently under review for grand jury presentation purposes,” Gregory said.

Rosa and Mark Corwin could not be located for comment. Pagsuberon is set to present the City’s grant at a “scoring meeting” at Nortex on April 19. If the city receives the grant, it will have to contribute some cash – about $1,000 – or manpower, she told the council.

“They want to see you have some skin in the game,” she said. “They like in-kind (labor), but they would like to see some cash on the line.”