Dumping of non-household trash ‘real problem and added expense’ for Leidy Township

By Christopher Miller

LEIDY TOWNSHIP – The dumping of more than normal household trash has become a problem for Leidy Township government and residents. So much in fact that the township has had to resort to purchasing surveillance cameras to guard the property in an attempt to catch the perpetrators.

“In my 22 years here at the township, we have had the problem multiple times a year, for each of my years here,” said Leidy Township Secretary/Treasurer Danielle Cross.

“We have two dump sites here: one on Tamarack Road and another on Kettle Creek Road with six dumpsters for regular household trash and recycling bins for your recyclables.”

The cost of this service: $70 billed annually, which is well under what most property owners pay for at-home trash pickup. The only thing that is different is the trash is physically taken to the dumpsites.

“It’s one of our ordinances in the township, and if a property owner does not pay the $70 on time, we tack on a $5 per month late fee after June 30 until it is paid,” Cross explained. “At the end of the year we see who has not paid their bill and they get a lien put up against their property.”

The annual fee is for all property owners in the township, not just year-round, full-time residents.

“I send out around 900 total bills a year for all habitable dwellings in the township,” Cross said. “We fold, stuff, and mail them ourselves to all property owners, even camp owners.”

According to the Central for Rural Pennsylvania, 97.3% (2021 data) of the homes in the township are used as seasonal/recreation dwellings, also known as camps.

As a courtesy to property owners in Leidy Township, twice a year the township pays for a couple of dumpsters to be brought in for disposal of bulk items, such as appliances, which are then sold for scrap and the money comes back to the township. But if people keep dumping items off at the sites during the “off times,” or the other 363 days of the year when they are not being legally accepted, the township has considered going to drastic efforts to ensure the dumping ends.

“Well two things could happen,” Cross said, “the supervisors could vote to raise the annual trash rates, and we could begin prosecuting those who are dumping, but we need the public to come forward to help us identify who those people are because the state police don’t help us with it.”

The most frequently dumped items are furniture and old appliances. Also, garbage that is not bagged carries an extra charge for the township.

“We post pictures of the culprits on our Leidy Township Facebook Page when we are trying to identify who they are, with the majority of properties being camps up here, not everybody knows who everybody is,” Cross explained.

Cross cited a story recently of a camp owner who was in the process of dumping a range oven off at the facility. Another camp owner witnessed it, sent Danielle a message about what was going on, and the two of them went to the camp owner to inform them of the policy regarding dumping appliances and non-household related trash. “They ended up taking the appliance either back to their camp or to their own home,” Cross said.

“We have our policy listed on our bills that go out, and on our large signs around the facility, but our Roadmaster Greg Scere has installed cameras in the trees to help us catch and identify the people dumping.

The additional work and maintenance of the dump sites isn’t something that Scere wants to do as it is additional work on his already busy days taking care of the township, but it is something he has started to do even on his personal time off.

“We have had bears in the past get into the trash, and birds picking it apart, and sometimes when there are large items being dumped, the lids do not shut correctly leading to animals making a mess for me to clean up after,” Scere said.

“The township then has to pay the extra amount to have large items taken away, and we don’t charge much for the service, heck – some places charge $250 a quarter for trash service,” Scere added.

For Scere, he explains it this way, “if your garbage can fit in a bag, it can do in the dumpster, but no construction stuff, that can damage the cans and the trucks taking it away.”

“It’s just plain ignorance when my time is wasted at the dump sites when I could be off doing something else, like mowing the grass at the cemetery sites.”