March 29, 2024

Public hearing dates set for illegal dumping, nuisance abatement ordinances

The Jasper County Board of Supervisors scheduled public hearing dates in July to consider approval of illegal dumping and nuisance abatement ordinances.

Introduced by community development director Nick Fratzke during the June 18 board of supervisors meeting, the readings of both ordinances have been set for July 2, 9 and 16. Upon the completion of all three readings — or if a supervisor motions to waive the subsequent readings after the first — the ordinances would go into effect.

Jasper County has encountered issues with people pulling off to the side of the road and throwing trash into ditches, Fratzke said. The ordinance will be used as a tool to issue penalties to violators and “hopefully provide a deterrent” to stop illegal dumping from happening as often.

According to documents included in the board of supervisors agenda packet, the ordinance “is enacted to expressly prohibit the disposal of solid waste within the county in unauthorized locations other than permitted waste disposal sites,” including public right-of-ways and public and private properties.

Violators can be fined $750 on their first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense or could possibly face imprisonment of up to seven days.

Fratzke said the county already has nuisance abatement sections in the general provisions of the zoning ordinance, but the proposed ordinance “cleans it up and make s it a little neater.”

According to the proposed ordinance, a nuisance is defined as “whatever is injurious to health, indecent or unreasonably offensive to the senses or an obstruction to the free use of property.”

Infractions could result in a $250 fine for a first offense, followed by $500 for repeated offenses.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com