Illegal dumping court hearing held in the Hub City
JACKSON, Tenn. – As the Hub City began its focus on littering in the city, a court hearing on Monday focused on the penalties for doing it.
Earlier this year, City Councilman Richard Donnell noticed that there were people dumping trash throughout his district.
As councilman, his goal is to find the culprits for this illegal dumping and put a stop to it. Cameras have been installed near common dumping areas hoping to catch violators.
“We have 10 cameras now. They are being put up now. One of them is already being put up at the site where this person was doing the dumping. The person we are going to court with today was actually caught by a citizen that lives in that district,” Donnell said.
A resident near one of the locations captured photos of three men dumping trash and driving a vehicle to the sites.
Monday afternoon David Savage, Johnathan Gosett, and Carlos Buntyn all appeared in court, charged with littering.
Buntyn pleaded guilty and paid the max fine of $500. Savage and Gosett both pleaded not guilty.
“It shows the community number one that we are trying to do something that attacks this problem. And number two, it can act as a deterrent to those persons that come into the district that do all this illegal dumping because until they are caught and punished, it will continue,” Donnell said.
Donnell says the numbers have gone down, but people are still dumping.
“Although there are some people who are still people who are dumping, the significant end roles are being taken now to remove. And I have to give those departments credit that there’s been a significant improvement in how the district looks,” Donnell said.
City leaders have all agreed that this is a community effort to keep Jackson litter free.
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