Town Officials Considering Fines For Town Dumpster Litterers

BURLINGTON, MA — Town officials are considering fines and other measures to prevent littering around the dumpsters behind town hall.

The Board of Selectmen discussed the issue at their Jan. 21 meeting due to recent problems.

The town has four dumpsters behind Town Hall, exclusively for cardboard, Public Works Director John Sanchez said.

"For the most part residents have been good about the upkeep of that and following the signs," Sanchez said. "With the pandemic, there has been a large increase in the use of amazon and other delivery services, so people have a large amount of cardboard."

The dumpsters were emptied every day during the holidays, but that was not frequent enough to prevent some residents from just dumping their cardboard and even trash in the lot.

"That has resulted in ... mountains of cardboard lying around the parking lot in the back of townhall and, in addition, trash some residents have left behind," Sanchez said.

Sanchez suggested putting up signage about littering and issuing fines to those who litter.

"I would welcome more surveillance and action taking against people using this inappropriately," said Selectman Nick Priest, who suggested posting the days the dumpsters are emptied.

"It's shameful that we even have to have this discussion," Selectman Michael Runyan said.

"Let's start fining people if we have to," Board Chair Joe Morandi said.

Town Administrator Paul Sagarino noted that the town does know who some of the litterbugs are — they didn't remove the mailing labels from their packages. Most are residents, he said.

The selectmen planned to discuss the issue again at their next meeting.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.