MARIE WUJEK MORE COLUMNS Advertisement

Nothing like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Seems each time the town board has a meeting, they ruffle a lot of feathers. PTO 43 is a town ordinance that will require folks who don't pay to have their trash picked up by PV Disposal to now prove they take their trash to the dump every week or suffer the consequences of mandatory solid waste collection fees.

I made a good, honest effort to read this entire ordinance. Many parts of it are well written and protect the health and well being of Pahrump regarding the disposal of medical waste, toxic and hazardous waste, septic sludge and other icky stuff.

The part of the ordinance that is creating so much backlash in town is 43.060, which basically states that if you have power at your property, it is mandatory for you to have solid waste collection from the town or its franchisee and pay the quarterly charges set forth in the franchise agreement.

There are exceptions to this requirement listed under section F, specifically No. 4, which says:

"In order not to subscribe to solid waste collection service pursuant to this section, a person must request that such service not be provided and provide proof that the premises is not inhabited, such as proof that no electrical service to the premises is provided, or provide proof for the collection period in which an exception is sought that the person has self-hauled all solid waste from his or her premises at least once every seven (7) days to a duly licensed and permitted solid waste disposal facility. A reasonable fee, as approved by the town board and set forth in the solid waste franchise agreement may be charged to establish or re-establish service to a premises."

Who stands to benefit from this taxation without representation, as I see it? Remember the Boston Tea Party? Will our next national news spotlight involve a "Pahrump Trash Party"?

My interpretation of this section of the ordinance is that if you have electrical service to your property and are not clients of PV Disposal, you will automatically become a client. It will fall upon your shoulders to prove that you are a responsible property owner and that you take your trash to the dump weekly by providing a receipt from the Nye County landfill stating so.

Nye County owns the landfill while PV Disposal operates the landfill and is the "franchisee" for the town of Pahrump. PV Disposal is the only garbage collection company in town. It is the garbage czar or king of trash, so to speak.

I don't begrudge any business the right to make a profit from legitimate business dealings, but I have to question the word "mandatory." Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?

To use the word mandatory basically says you are guilty of illegal dumping if you don't pay for trash service. This is "mandatory profiteering" on behalf of PV Disposal, the town and the county -- all of whom stand to profit.

Illegal dumping is a problem in every town I have ever lived in. When an illegal dump site is located, you put on your hazmat bunny suit and rubber gloves, tear open garbage bags and do that CSI thing.

Sift through the garbage; there is bound to be an envelope with someone's name or some other evidence leading to the owner of that trash. Go after the offender, not the entire population of residents who don't purchase trash service.

When this ordinance is put into effect, I guarantee you will still have illegal dumping. Some people just don't feel good about doing the right thing, kind of like running a stop sign when there isn't another car in sight.

When you move to Pahrump and you are making $70,000-$80,000 a year, $12 a month for garbage collection is no big deal. If you are on a fixed income such as disability or Social Security, $12 a month is five cases of ramen noodles, which create very little garbage I might add.

I know quite a few people, including entire families, who don't create more than one bag of garbage a month. They recycle what they can and use compost pits for food waste. They don't buy convenience products such as paper towels or pre-packaged food. They use cloth bags at the grocery store to carry their groceries in.

I see them as environmentally friendly folks, not illegal dumpers.

I have tried to keep this column in its simplest form. Illegal dumping is probably a larger issue than I am aware of. However, there are solutions to every problem that don't affect, create financial distress and place undo hardship on those who are responsible citizens.

Now, to the town board members:

You were elected or appointed to serve on the town board. You hold an unpaid position and are representatives of the town and the people who live here -- the important part of this directive is "the people."

There are five of you and 38,000-plus residents of Pahrump; you are to vote their conscience, not yours. The same people that put you in office can take you out. Seems one town board member gave much thought to the impact of this and voted against it. I applaud him. He obviously understands the "will of the people."

This ordinance does not affect me directly; I have had trash service with PV Disposal since I moved here.

With the amount of emails, phone calls and people stopping by to voice their opinion, I must say, without a doubt, this is not a done deal.