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City cracking down on habitual trashers
The city's codes department plans to take a stricter approach toward cleaning up an ongoing problem in the city - trash.
Crays addressed the Fort Scott City Commission during their March 19 meeting to explain the codes department's plan to become more stringent in its enforcement of city codes.
In an interview Thursday, Codes Manager Crays said the city has a "severe trash problem" his department is trying to address in order to spruce up the city's appearance due to trash being left outside on properties for long periods of time and not picked up.
"It's a combination of trash, litter, debris and nuisances, virtually anything that is offensive or a problem in regard to the intent of what the code is," Crays said.
Crays said the goal of the department is to get tougher with enforcement of trash codes, to the point of possibly issuing arrest warrants for residents who refuse to comply with city laws. Crays said he will work with people to a degree, but he plans to work to address repeat offenders.
"Trash is getting worse all the time," he said. "We took a softer approach at first. I'm still willing to work with people, for sure, but we have a severe trash problem. The city commission and city manager are all very in favor of stricter enforcement of nuisances, debris, litter and trash, which brings insects, rodents, snakes, germs, bacteria and creates a lot of unhealthy situations. And it looks bad. It also affects neighbors and the community as a whole. Fort Scott is a great place to live."
Crays added, "We're not going to make sure everybody's grass is cut at the same height and houses are all the same color."
He also said the effort is not targeted at a particular individual, but "cleaning up" the community as a whole.
"This is an attempt to get the worst offenders locations cleaned up for the betterment of the community," he said.
Crays said most of the major problems are in residential areas, however there are "some commercial problems." There is an issue with people throwing their trash out of their vehicles onto the ground.
"If you find trash, you will find debris, litter, etc., at the same location," he said.
The problem has continued even after the codes department began cracking down on the issue last year, Crays said.
"It's not always at the same addresses," he said. "We have multiple offenders of the trash and nuisance problem. In some ways, it's worse. In other ways, it's better."
Crays said one potential cause of the problem is not enough containers around town to hold all of the refuse, and some only hold certain amounts of trash.
"There is a lack of containers that won't blow away," he said. "Some have one and it's fine, others may need two or three. There are none in some locations and not enough in other locations."
Crays said that "for a long time, the codes department has not had the appropriate amount of respect it should be granted."
"Now that's not with everybody," he said. "Sometimes we have to be a little firmer and stricter to ask for that respect. People who don't respect it are the habitual offenders. People who do respect it keep their property clean."
Crays said he feels that "people's pride in the community has diminished somewhat."
"Overall, I'd like to see all of us stitch together and make a difference," he said.
Crays said he hopes many problem areas will be taken care of this summer with the Clean Sweep program, which is sponsored by the city and involves city staff and other community members scouring the town collecting trash and debris in trash bags.
Penalties for various violations of city nuisance codes vary with fines being determined by a judge. The city codes department's process starts with locating violations of certain ordinances.
"We grant them a 10-day grace period to get it taken care of," he said. "We can also issue a ticket but extend it out past that grace period."
If the violator continues to not pick up his or her registered letter or fails to contact the codes department, "they have to go to court" where a judge will determine if the violator should have extra time to correct the situation, issue a fine, "or fine them every day the violation is in effect," Crays said.
"People in the community don't understand how strict it could get," he said, adding he tries to get people to understand "they will probably go to court or get a fine" for continued violations.
Crays said there are currently two arrest warrants out for "people who chose not to show up for court."
"We're willing to give them extra time, but when you ignore it completely, then it makes us think you're taking a negative attitude toward the situation."
The city's ordinances relating to such topics as litter, nuisances and obstruction of streets and sidewalks can be found on the city's website, www.fscity.org, under the Municipal Codes, Health and Safety secti