Atlantic City Councilperson Kathy Somers issued a warning to residents of the City who are or will be, demolishing buildings. Somers said during a meeting of the Atlantic City Council, that such debris must be taken to the Cass County Landfill. According to Somers, the debris “Cannot go to some ‘secret place’ somewhere outside of the City. She said also, if the DNR ever finds a dumping ground for building materials, either on the surface or buried, the person responsible will be forced to remove that material – buried or not – and haul it to the Landfill.

Somers said the City should remind residents that it’s in their “best interests to follow the law.” She says those persons who don’t follow the law, will “Probably regret it,” because of the hefty fines which can result from such acts. Councilman Shaun Shouse said that also applies to farmers who offer to take debris from residents in the City and dispose of it on their land. Shouse says the farm rules allow only structures demolished on a farmers property to be demolished or buried on those farms, not structures from other locations.

On a related note, as we mentioned last week, the Cass County Board of Supervisors, have set June 13th and 20th as the dates for public hearings, on the 1st and 2nd readings of a proposed Illegal Dumping Ordinance for the unincorporated areas of the County. The ordinance, if adopted after the second reading, calls for a $100 fine on the 1st offense if the items illegally dumped weighed less than 10-pounds, or up to 15-cubic feet in volume, and up to $250 for the second and subsequent offenses. The fines increase from $250 to $500 respectively, for trash that exceeds 10-pounds, or 15-cubic feet in volume.