By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
In mid-August, Great Bend city administration announced the compost site had been receiving banned material such as construction material, processed lumber, tires, household trash and even dead animals. The recent illegal dumping event at the compost site resulted in the discovery that the Great Bend code contains two sections prohibiting illegal dumping but with different penalties.
On Tuesday, the Great Bend City Council, with the recommendation from City Attorney Allen Glendenning, cleared up the ordinance with obsolete language.
"The two ordinances had different penalties and passed at different times," said Glendenning. "The new ordinance eliminates one of those and goes with the most recent version continuing forward. It doesn't really change anything about what is legal or illegal. It just gets us one section."
Permitted by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the compost site is only permitted to take trees, tree limbs, grass and leaves. KDHE does make inspections to the city’s site and can fine or revoke the city’s permit for violations outside their permitted use.
Unlawful dumping at the Great Bend compost site is a Class A violation.