Garbage

Garbage collection schedules in Hagerstown will change because of the Sept. 5 Labor Day holiday. Collection will be as follows: North End collection: Set out Monday evening for Tuesday collection. South End collection: Set out Tuesday evening for Wednesday collection. Citywide yard waste: Set out Wednesday evening for Thursday collection. There will be no paper recycling pickup that week. Garbage may be placed at the curb after 4 p.m. For more information, call the Engineering Department at 301-739-8577, ext. 126.

SMITHSBURG - The Smithsburg Town Council will be discussing solutions for issues including garbage problems at its work session later this month and at its Oct. 7 meeting. Members of the council said many residents were putting their trash at their respective properties' curbs, sometimes days before the scheduled pickup. Council members said residents that do so are exposing others to public health risks. "We're seeing trash being put out way in advance," Mayor Mildred "Mickey" Myers said at the Sept.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Several people living on Gardner Lane south of Shepherdstown complained to the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday about people living in a house who are dumping garbage outside the home. Neighbors said old lawn mowers, stoves and refrigerators have been thrown into the debris and that some of the material has been buried. The neighbors said they have problems with mice and are afraid it could lead to problems with rats. Commission member Rusty Morgan said he would get in touch with Ken White, a local state Department of Natural Resources officer, and report the problem to him.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - City residents will see an increase in their garbage and fire fees after July 1 after the Martinsburg City Council unanimously approved the hikes at Thursday's City Council meeting. The fire fee increases will generate about $60,000 in additional revenue, while the garbage fee increases will generate an additional $72,500. Finance Director Mark Spickler said the reason for raising the fees is to help offset a projected $125,000 deficit in the city's annual budget, which is based on the minimum operating costs of city departments.

City of Hagerstown residents are reminded that, because of the Labor Day holiday, there will be no garbage collected on Monday, Sept. 3. The landfill also will be closed. All trash and recycling collection will be delayed one day that week. Garbage may be placed at the curb after 4 p.m. For information, call 301-739-8577, ext. 126.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The City of Martinsburg's offices will be closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Normal business hours will resume Tuesday. Monday's garbage will be picked up on Tuesday and Tuesday's garbage will be collected on Wednesday. Normal collection will resume on Thursday, Jan. 19, according to a news release from the city. No changes will be made to the recycling schedule.

There will be no trash collection Monday in the City of Hagerstown and the Washington County Landfill will be closed. All trash and recycling collection will be delayed one day. Garbage may be placed at the curb after 4 p.m. For information, call the City of Hagerstown Engineering Department at 301-739-8577, ext. 126.

HAGERSTOWN -- The Hagerstown City Council is considering whether to pass an ordinance that would, among other things, allow authorities to impose a fine to deter nonresidents from disposing of garbage in the city. On Tuesday, the council introduced the ordinance in an effort to overhaul Hagerstown's 41-year-old garbage code. The ordinance would allow city officials to fine people as much as $1,500 if they dump fewer than 100 pounds of garbage within city limits, City Engineer Rodney Tissue said after the council meeting.

HAGERSTOWN tiffanya@herald-mail.com The trash still sat in front of Roy Shifflett's house on Wednesday, three days after he plopped it there. Shifflett, of Hagerstown's West End, said he took the garbage out Monday, thinking it would be gone Tuesday. But there was so much post-Christmas trash lining the curbs in Hagerstown, the city had to push trash pickup back a day, City Engineer Rodney Tissue said. Garbage in parts of the southern end of Hagerstown was removed on Wednesday instead of Tuesday.

Berkeley County leaders are backing a company that wants to build a $19 million facility to produce a solid refuse fuel from household garbage that could then be burned at a Martinsburg cement plant. The Berkeley County Council voted 5-0 in support of Entsorga West Virginia LLC's proposal to build a commercial mixed waste resource recovery facility at the old county landfill property off Grapevine Road. Project consultant Emily F. Dyson told county leaders Thursday that Entsorga could be positioned to provide fuel to the Essroc cement plant in 2014 if the project clears final county and state regulatory, planning and engineering hurdles.

City police on Thursday cited a Martinsburg artist who placed a toilet on the pedestal in the city square on Wednesday as a publicity stunt to advocate for more public art in the community. David Heatwole, 42, of Martinsburg, faces a maximum fine of $500 for violating the city ordinance titled “Littering and Deposit of Garbage, Rubbish, Junk, Etc,” according to city code. Heatwole is scheduled to appear in municipal court on May 2, according to the citation. Heatwole put the toilet on the pedestal with the lid up. On it, he wrote “Put art in Martinsburg.” Three helium-filled purple balloons were tied to the flush handle and a fake bill of sale for a “crappy work of art” was dangling from the toilet bowl.

One person was taken to Meritus Medical Center when a passenger vehicle crashed into the back of a stopped garbage truck Thursday morning in the 19000 block of Lappans Road (Md. 68) near Devil's Backbone Park, a Washington County Emergency Services dispatcher said. The dispatcher said the person's injuries seemed to be minor. The roadway was closed to traffic from about 7:45 to 8:25 a.m., the dispatcher said.

The problem: More than two months after an employee at the CSX railroad company said the company would clean up tires and garbage on railroad property near Williamsport, the pile of trash remained. The problem, along Md. 68 near the railroad crossing, was featured in “What’s wrong with this picture” on May 9. At that time, Dave Barnhart, director of environmental health at the Washington County Health Department, called CSX about the problem and said a woman there told him CSX would take care of it. Who could fix it: CSX What they say: Contacted last week, CSX spokesman Robert Sullivan said he was not sure why there was no immediate response to Barnhart’s request for the company to clean up the garbage.

About 20 area residents Tuesday night heard a litany of reasons why they should oppose a proposed incinerator in Frederick County that would turn garbage into energy. Members of the Boonsboro Recycling Task Force invited Ellis Burruss, the leader of WasteNot! Frederick, a loosely organized citizens group opposed to the incinerator project, to offer his views. Frederick County officials have been considering building the "waste-to-energy" incinerator since 2005, Burruss said. Officials in Carroll and Frederick counties have an agreement with the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority to develop the facility.

Clear Spring is accepting bids for its garbage collection contract through Feb. 10. The town council agreed Monday to put its next three-year garbage contract up for bid early. Town Clerk Juanita Grimm said the contract will not take effect until the next fiscal year, which starts July 1. Obtaining bids early allows the council more time to consider potential contractors and recycling. Mayor Paul D. Hose Jr. said the package asks companies to include a line item in their bids for recycling services.

Robocall diverted attention from real issues       To the editor:   Let it be known that the typical rhetoric from Republicans at all levels amounts to garbage and the leaders of the Washington County Republican Central Committee are shoveling it pretty well.   "Seeing the dearth of local candidates the Democrats put forward this year, it did not appear their central committee was very active. If only they would apply their current prosecutorial-seeking energies toward candidate recruitment, we could have more robust election seasons around here.

Washington County could send some of its garbage for incineration in a regional waste-to-energy facility under development in Frederick County, officials from both counties have said. The Washington County Commissioners voted unanimously last week to send a letter to Frederick County expressing their interest in a potential partnership. Frederick and Carroll counties are funding the construction of the 1,500 ton-per-day waste-to-energy facility, commonly known as an incinerator, which will be owned by the Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority.

FUNKSTOWN -- Funkstown Town Council members could not move forward Monday night on deciding which company will provide the town's garbage collection service because there were not enough council members at a council meeting. Four council members were needed to have a quorum, but only three council members -- Robert "Bobby" Rodgers Jr., Richard L. Gaver and John Phillips III -- came to Monday's 6 p.m. meeting, said Assistant Mayor Sharon Chirgott. Mayor Paul N. Crampton Jr. was not at the meeting and Chirgott took the mayor's place to run the meeting.