City Council had a third reading of the trash ordinance.
City Council agreed to fine people in two different ways — if residents have trash visible on their properties from the street and people who use tobacco products (or litter them) in some city-owned spaces.
At Monday night’s council meeting, held at the City Building, 8 E. Washington St., council members adopted both the Garbage and Rubbish ordinance and the Tobacco Free Parks ordinance.
After nearly three months of debate and revisions, they voted to adopt the “trash law” 6-1, which requires Athens residents to hide their trash from plain sight, fining offenders $50 on their first violation.
Councilman Kent Butler, D-1st Ward and the only dissenting voter, said he would have liked to see to the way the city handles garbage before enacting the law.
“I wanted to see us instill the new single stream recycling program,” Butler said, adding he would like to see uniform trash cans citywide.
The single stream recycling program would allow citizens to compost their trash and have it collected by the city, rather than throwing all their trash in one bin.
“I wanted to consider implementing those things first,” Butler said.
Fellow city officials also expressed their support for uniform trash bins.
“I hope we can continue down the road I thought we were taking to uniform cans,” Athens Service Safety Director Paula Horan-Mosely said.
In an earlier interview with The Post, Mayor Paul Wiehl said uniform trash cans were at least a year away.
Despite his vote against the newly adopted trash law, Butler said he supports the idea of a cleaner city.
Councilwoman Chris Fahl, D-4th Ward and author of the trash ordinance, said she hoped her law would promote cleaner living.
“I hope (the law) gets people on the ball about single stream,” Fahl said.
Tobacco Free Parks ordinance
In another attempt to promote a cleaner city, councilmembers adopted the Tobacco Free Parks ordinance.
The ordinance prohibits people from using tobacco products in city-owned recreational spaces as well as its parking lots. It also permits city officials to issue fines to those who discard cigarette butts in public — on streets or sidewalks.
That fine would be $50.
“Cigarette butts are litter,” Councilman Steve Patterson, D-At Large, said.
At previous council meetings, concerns were raised regarding Ohio University students smoking on city property following OU’s tobacco ban, which will begin in Fall Semester 2015.
“My concerns are that … the litter of cigarette butts will increase,” Fahl said.
The proposition was first brought before council by Thaden Brient, a city resident who spent 18 months collecting cigarette butts from public parks in Athens.
“This is something that … was approached by a citizen,” Jennifer Cochran, D-At Large, said. “I’m glad Athens has taken it up.”
@emilybohatch
eb346012@ohio.edu
