Illegal dumpers will be cited into municipal court

Ironton will host clean ups for the next couple of months.

On Thursday, Mayor Katrina Keith announced at the Ironton City Council that the city would have a clean up events called Team Up to Clean Up.

In April, they will be working with groups from the city and the county.

“I am very excited about this,” she said. “We are partnering with the Lawrence County commissioners, the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District and many others.”

The groups are part of Project First Impression. “They are cleaning up the county,” She said. “Ironton is teaming up with them and we are going to amp up our Weeds and Seeds program that we started last year.”

Ironton will have their spring beautification days on May 3-4.

“A lot of people are teaming up,” Keith said. “St. Joseph will be downtown on May 3 cleaning up and, on May 4, civic groups will clean up the riverfront and Park Avenue. The street department will be painting curbs and patching potholes. This is all an effort to get ready for the Memorial Day parade.

And May 6-10, there will be a clean up week for Ironton residents.

“We are going to get some dumpsters,” Keith said, adding they will be placed at the Water Filtration Plant so they can be watched during the day by staff and at night by security cameras. “People will be able to bring their unwanted household items. No construction material and there are some EPA-regulated things we can’t take.”
Those items include tires, batteries, paint, oil, electronics, mercury, prescription drugs, fluorescent light bulbs, lawn chemicals, smoke detectors, fireworks and large appliances.

“But we will have somebody up there, bring an ID or a Ironton utility bill and you will be able to dump your stuff,” Keith said.

The mayor warned that she has already talked to Ironton Municipal Judge Kevin Waldo and if people just leave items in the alley, they will be cited.

“You will get your warning, if you don’t get it cleaned up, the police department will come and give you a ticket citing you right into court and you deal with the judge instead of me,” Keith said. “I will give you a chance, but I don’t know if Kevin will.”

Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District will be having a number of events as well, including a tire amnesty day on April 6, a drug take back day on April 13 and an Ewaste and document shred day on May 11.

The annual Lawrence County River Sweep will be on June 15.