Troy adopts salvage ordinance, first reading of sewer policy

The Troy City Council had a second reading March 20 of a new ordinance that is intended to deal with people removing items from the green bins site on St. Regis Haul Road.

The ordinance will go into effect 30 days from the first reading, which will be Friday, April 19.

Ordinance 2019-761 deals with the disposal of solid waste within the City of Troy.

It introduces a measure prohibiting anyone from dumping waste in the city outside of a designated container. This would include activities such as leaving large items outside of the green bins at the St. Regis Haul Road site.

In addition, the new ordinance addresses removing or searching through solid waste. That doesn’t just include things placed in the green bins. The ordinance includes, “any solid waste or liquid placed for collection at a solid waste disposal site, including but not limited to curbsides, alleyways, parking lots, streets, green boxes and other disposal sites.”

Prior to the ordinance, Troy Police had no city code under which to cite those who rummage through the green boxes in search of items, often leaving garbage strewn around the exterior of the bins.

Further on, the ordinance also covers removing items from the containers for recyclable materials, though it permits the person who placed an item in one of the bins to retrieve it.

“The whole point is to give our police something to go by,” said Mayor Dallas Carr during the initial discussion of the ordinance at a work meeting Feb. 13.

Carr said that he has tried to talk to people who were dumping items from the green bins out onto the ground, and knows others have as well, but asking people to stop has not netted any results so far.

The town had previously explored whether there were any existing ordinances under which police could cite people for salvaging from the green bins, such as a county ordinance.

In addition, the council also had a first reading of a new ordinance setting policies for the Troy sewer system. Ordinance 2019-760 is available at Troy City Hall for review, and posted in the front vestibule windows, facing the outside.

The new ordinance sets rules and regulations, and stipulates delinquent sewer charges to be levied as a tax against the lot of parcel to which sewer service is provided.

It also sets guidelines for establishing sewer service to a newly constructed building, and gives the city power to order a private septic system to be connected to the city sewer for health and sanitation reasons.

The second reading of Ordinance 2019-760 is projected for the City Council’s regular meeting on Wednesday, April 17.