Marlinton Mayor’s Corner

My topic for Valentine’s Day is “Garbage.” There is an angle here. Valentines want to know what is real and what is not. It’s the same with garbage. Garbage issues last week were worse than normal, and that is what prompted this letter.

According to definitions within our ordinance, “Refuse shall mean and include garbage, rubbish and trash; except that dead animals and fowls, body waste, hot ashes, rocks, concrete, bricks and similar materials are expressly excluded from and shall not be stored therewith.”

REFUSE AND RUBBISH shall mean anything thrown away or rejected as worthless or useless. TRASH shall mean any plant trimmings or any broken, discarded or worthless things or matter.

GARBAGE shall mean any spoiled or wasted food, as from a market, restaurant or kitchen, that is thrown away.

None of these definitions include or provide for discarded furniture, appliances, steel or used motor oil in dumpsters.

We know some folks within the town abuse privileges.

We also have witnesses who have seen individuals from out of town bring their junk to our dumpsters. Tires, steel articles, hazardous materials of any kind, partially used cans of paint and the like are not to be put into any dumpster, and especially not in a dumpster that someone else is paying for. 

Anyone who would like to know all requirements of Title 7, Health and Sanitation, Chapter 1, may obtain copies of the ordinance at the town office.

7-116 says; A violation of any section of this Chapter shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each separate offense.

For state law as to authority of city council to prohibit the accumulation and require the disposal of garbage and refuse and to provide for the elimination of public health and safety hazards and to abate nuisances, see WV Code, Section 8-12-5. subsecs. (1), (23)