Debra Hardy settles nearly 70 Bentleyville-area blight citations
BENTLEYVILLE – A Rostraver Township woman settled nearly 70 Bentleyville-area blight citations Wednesday, reducing her fines and court costs by more than $10,000.
Debra Maley Hardy, a former wife of the founder of Eighty Four Lumber Co., also has 90 days to bring her 11 properties in the borough as well Ellsworth and Cokeburg into compliance with local code ordinances, her attorney said.
“I’m hoping we remedied the situation,” said Bentleyville police Chief Rich Young, who created wanted posters last week for Hardy to lure her to court to deal with the fines that date to 2017.
The settlement was reached for her to pay $23,000 to resolve the cases in a closed-door meeting between borough solicitors, Hardy’s two attorneys and District Judge Curtis Thompson.
Court officials said the meeting was not a hearing as Hardy had already been found guilty in absentia of the citations that resulted in Thompson signing 69 warrants for her arrest.
The warrants were suspended late Friday by Washington County Judge John F. DiSalle under a petition that mistakenly described Wednesday’s meeting as a hearing.
The same warrants were withdrawn Wednesday under the terms of the settlement with the municipalities where the citations were filed, a court official said.
Phil Melograne, one of the attorneys representing Hardy, said she “absolutely did not” receive special treatment by the court.
She was once married to lumber magnate Joe Hardy, who also owns Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Fayette County.
He said Debra Hardy was “overwhelmed by a situation” in which she neglected to previously appear in court on the citations.
Bentleyville will receive a $20,000 portion of the settlement, minus court costs, borough solicitor Dennis Makel said. Debra Hardy paid $500 to settle the Ellsworth cases and $2,500 to resolve those in Cokeburg, court records show.
Hardy, of 1 Debbie Lane, has six newer blight citations carrying $6,000 in fines which are under appeal and will be dealt with in a hearing in 90 days, Thompson said.
“All I am looking for is a resolution,” Thompson said.