Jan 5, 2018 2 min read

A local mechanical contractor that was working on an expansion and grading project is seeking a decision from a Washington County judge on whether Union Township can impose a permit fee more than once.

W.G. Tomko Inc. of 2559 State Route 88, Finleyville, received a grading permit for yard expansion from Union Township in September 2016 and began work within three months.

Correspondence included as an exhibit described the project: “An entire hillside is being carved away to make room for expansion of the W.G. Tomko Inc. facility. This is not a process that can be nor should be performed quickly.”

The state Department of Environmental Protection ordered the project, encompassing a total of six acres, to be shut down “for a significant period of time,” according to Tomko’s attorneys. The matter was resolved by the placement of a security fence along a ridge wall.

Tomko also experienced delays related to weather, so the project, which moved approximately 200,000 cubic yards of material, could not be completed within the allotted year.

Before the permit expired, Tomko requested an extension, which the township eventually granted, but “demanded the payment of a new application fee,” according to the suit.

Last October, the Union Township supervisors discussed the Tomko project, from which fill was being placed at Finleyville Airport.

Extensions of permits for both the Finleyville Airport and Tomko property grading were considered “incomplete without payment of the associated fees,” Jarrod D’Amico, zoning and code enforcement officer for Union Township, wrote in a letter included with the suit.

A separate fee is not part of the township’s ordinance, but Tomko paid it to finish the project. Last month, Tomko asked for a refund, notifying the township if it received no response, it would be headed to court.

In documents filed Wednesday, Tomko asked a judge to grant a refund of $18,500.

No court date has been set.