Mount Vernon, Ohio, City Council tightens waste hauling regulations

City council members in Mount Vernon, Ohio, provided a second reading July 14 of proposed legislation to tighten waste hauling and recycling requirements.

Key changes to the current code, as reported by Knox Pages, include stricter reporting requirements and the need for separate recycling permits in addition to a waste hauler license. The ordinance would also move the oversight of haulers to a newly created Department of Code Enforcement.

The city’s safety-service director and mayor currently issue permits, while the Mount Vernon Police Department inspects trucks, issues permits and maintains records. City Inspector Scott Zimmerman said at the reading that moving oversight to the Code Enforcement Department streamlines the process by putting everything in one place.

Legislation regarding the creation of the Department of Code Enforcement is still pending before the council.

“It is important that at the same time that we pass the waste haulers legislation that we create the Department of Code Enforcement. This is all under the assumption that there would be a code enforcement department,” said Safety-Service Director Tanner Salyers.

The proposed changes also would make spills or damage a separate violation unrelated to licenses or permits, according to Knox Pages, and put responsibility on the hauler for cleanup, repair and administrative costs incurred by the city.

“We have had instances of blowing debris from haulers in the city that aren’t securely hauling their waste,” Salyers said.

“We want to make sure … it’s not just a bunch of legalese on paper for us to look at. If you’re a citizen or if you’re a waste hauler, you can crack into the legislation and just see what we’re working with.”

A major goal of the revised ordinance is to ensure that haulers properly dispose of recyclables. Under the current code, haulers are required to file semiannual reports detailing the tonnages of solid waste and recyclables collected within the city, but city officials say many do not.

The tightened requirements spell out the information haulers must report:

• the total volume and weight of solid waste collected and disposed of;
• the total volume and weight of recyclable materials collected;
• the names and physical addresses of all approved disposal and recycling facilities used (must be separate and appropriate for each waste stream); and
• a fleet summary including the number and description of trucks in active operation and documentation of spills, littering, or noncompliance incidents and corrective action taken.

By documenting drop-off facilities, the city says it hopes to ensure better transparency with haulers.

Salyers said the information the city is requesting should be information that waste haulers should be accumulating for the Environmental Protection Agency or Delaware, Knox, Marion, Morrow Solid Waste District reports.

“I think that what this [ordinance] does is it just puts checks on what they should be doing,” Council member Amber Keener said.

Neither the current code nor the revised ordinance regulates commercial or multifamily establishments.

The ordinance is up for its third reading at the July 28 city council meeting.