A town crew picks up garbage and recycables on a busy South Breazeale Avenue. The town has purchased a new $233,000 truck that will be used for yard waste and debris pickup. It can also pick up and empty trash bins (Steve Herring|mountollivetribune.com)
People who continue to violate provisions of the town of Mount Olive code of ordinances after being warned to remedy the problem could face thousands of dollars in civil penalties and fines. The new provision to the town’s code of ordinances implementing the civil penalties and fines was unanimously approved by the town board earlier this month.
The decision is in response to ongoing problems with overgrown vacant lots, junk vehicles and other issues, even tractor-trailer rigs parked in yards, Town Manager Jammie Royall explained.
Residents do not understand and fail to get the whole picture of what the town is trying to do, he said. They see it as the town just trying to charge them more money.
Most of the new ordinance will not impact a regular resident, he said.
It wasn’t the only vote the board took during the March meeting to address ongoing issues. Residents have been complaining about the town’s slow response to picking up yard waste.To remedy that issue, town commissioners voted unanimously to purchase a new truck to handle yard waste and debris pickup.
Fines
The addition to the code of ordinance sets out a schedule of civil penalties and fines.A written warning will be issued for the first offense.If the violation is not remedied after 15 day calendar days following the written warning, the code enforcement officer is authorized to impose a civil penalty and fine.
The second offense will carry a $200 civil penalty plus a fine of up to $200.If not remedied after 15 day calendar days, the third offense will incur a $300 civil penalty and up to a $300 fine.
If not remedied after 15 days, the fourth offense will carry a $500 civil penalty and up to a $500 fine.
Violations that persist beyond the fourth offense shall be considered as a separate and distinct offense each day subjecting the offender to the $500 civil penalty and fine of up to $500.
The policy authorizes the town attorney to file suit on behalf of the town to collect any unpaid civil penalties.
If litigation is required to recover the civil penalties, the attorney, in addition to the penalties, may recover reasonable attorney fees and other costs incurred in bringing the legal action and recovering the judgment.
The old fees that were being charged were just not enough to keep that from happening, Royall said.
“Say for example you have an old car in your yard, and he (code enforcement officer) is going around and giving you the maximum number of warnings (under the old process),” Royall said. “Say you get that last warning and you get 10 days and that is your last day of the 10. Now they (violator) go in on the ninth day and move the car.
“It stays gone about two or three weeks, then all of a sudden it is back. Well, he (code enforcement officer) has got to start back all the way over on the whole 30-day process.”
Royall cited as example a garage that has been an issue because of cars.
“They would pay the fine and go right on,” he said. “To them $50 is just not worth going through all of the time to move (the vehicles) or do all of that stuff. They will pay the $50 and keep right on going.
“So now they (town commissioners) have tried to adjust the fees so that it hurts them (any violators) a little more and actually makes them say hey, I have got to clean this stuff up instead of paying the fee. So that is really the whole point of it.”
Overgrown vacant lots have been an ongoing problem, too, Royall said.
“You have to send out a notice for them and it’s all summer long that you have to do the same thing,” he explained. “You go and tell them you need to cut it. Well, they will wait until the very last minute until they get that last notice and then they will go ahead and cut it.
“Well, then you turn around and you have to go through that whole process again the next time because they don’t want to cut it but maybe two times the whole summer. And you know, your grass at home you have to cut it about every week or every other week at least. They want to cut it once a month and it is a sight by then.”
Garbage truck purchase
Complaints about the town’s debris and yard waste pickup almost have become a regular part of town board meetings with residents and even some town board members voicing concerns.
Ccommissioners have approved the purchase of a $233,000 truck to help with that task. It should be delivered by the first of June.
The town could have purchased another garbage truck for $200,000 to help with debris removal, but would have had to hire two extra workers, Royall added.
“We have always had the old garbage truck with two men throwing all of that stuff in the back,” Royall said. “Now, we are going to get this new grapnel truck with a loader on the back of it. Instead of men out there trying to throw every bit into the back of the trash truck, we have one man driving, one man on the back with the loader.
“He can pick up the whole pile of trash (with the grapnel) and throw it in. It should keep us caught up yard debris for a while.”
The truck also has a lifter on the side that can pick up and empty containers in a bin that will roll up and dump the trash into the truck, he said.
The bin can be used for small piles of debris that the workers can toss into it using pitchfork, Royall said.
The bin is then lifted and dumped into the truck, he said.
The goal of purchasing such a truck is to make the process more efficient, Royall said.
Royall said he has spoken with officials in other towns that have the same type of truck and that they are pleased with how it works.
The town also is looking to purchase a dump truck in the near future to replace the old that is hard to find parts for, he said.
