POST
Wednesday, December 11, 2024 • Vol. 17 No. 15 • FREE
PreSort Std U.S. Postage PAID Middlefield, OH 44062 Permit No. 77
Postal Customer Local / ECRWSS
Community News from Middlefield, Parkman, Huntsburg and Surrounding Areas
OR CURRENT RESIDENT
Middlef ield Middlefield Council Prepares to Annex 64.7-Acre Parcel by Woodsong By Ann Wishart ann@karlovecmedia.com
SCREEN SHOT
This map from the Geauga County Auditor’s Office website shows the 64.71-acre lot that Middlefield Village may annex from Middlefield Township. North of the parcel, owned by Lake Avenue Land Partners LDT, is Walmart Superstore. LALP also owns the 14.49 acres immediately to the east of the parcel with frontage on Lake Avenue.
Middlefield Village Council is considering an ordinance to annex from Middlefield Township a vacant 64.71-acre parcel next to the Walmart Superstore property on Harrington Way. According to the Geauga County Auditor’s Office map, the parcel, owned by Lake Avenue Land Partners LTD, appears landlocked. However, the Partners also own a 14.49-acre parcel on the east side of the 64.71-acre parcel. The smaller parcel, which is in the village, has access to Lake Avenue through a residence at 15136 Lake Ave. Both parcels were acquired in 2005. To the west of the larger parcel is the extensive Woodsong housing development, which is in the process of building out. To the south is the Geauga See Annex • Page 3
Scams Cost Local Businesses Thousands By Allison Wilson wilson@karlovecmedia.com Recent scams run by two groups have cost local building supply companies thousands of dollars, according to the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office. “We suspect one group is in the area of Gambia and the other is a Dominican group. Both groups have associates in the (United States) that are assisting them with receiving and distribution of the stolen goods,” Detective Steve Deardowski said in an email Dec. 6. Chardon business VanBoxel Building Supply has been hit for approximately $34,000, while Middlefield businesses Troymill Wood Products and Hardwood Lumber have been hit for approximately $30,000 and $15,000, respectively.
“It definitely sucks for us, being a smaller, local business taking that big of a hit,” said VanBoxel Operations Manager Kyle Van Boxel in a Nov. 25 interview. While there are similarities, the scams differ in several fundamental ways, according to the sheriff’s office. “The group out of Gambia are using identities of legitimate businesses, just changing the contact numbers and setting up Net-30 trade accounts. They will then order material utilizing that account. They also have fraudulent accounts set up with shipping companies, which then deliver the material,” Deardowski said. “The group we suspect out of the Dominican Republic is also utilizing fraudulent names. However, they are purchasing material with stolen credit cards.”
One such scam hitting VanBoxel Building Supply prompted the operations manager to contact the Geauga County Maple Leaf. “It’s been happening more and more,” Van Boxel said. “This one is a — people are ordering materials, paying with credit cards, we ship it to ‘em and then we get notified after shipment that the credit cards were stolen.” While the supplier can do some verification on their end, that doesn’t mean much if the scammers have the cardholder’s information, Van Boxel explained. “It usually takes us a week or two to ship the products and when we ship products, a lot of people don’t realize 95% of our sales are out of state and they’re pretty much all semi-loaded material that we
send out,” he said. Van Boxel said the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation and GCSO have all been working on the case. While the GCSO confirmed the involvement of DHS, officials said no federal agencies have adopted the case and the sheriff’s office is still the primary investigator. “Unfortunately, there’s really no way for us to protect ourselves on it, other than try to hold material a little bit longer,” he said. “Instead of two weeks, we hold it a month. But, doing that, we lose sales on the other end, good customers that need material quickly are unable to get it that way.” The sheriff’s office confirmed there has been an attempt to identify the suspects in one of the organizations, but it was not successful.
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