Marlinton Fall Clean Up Underway

Marlinton, WV – Marlinton Mayor Joe Smith reminds town residents that the last two weeks in October are town clean-up weeks. Until the end of the month, the town is providing free leaf bags, which can be picked up at the town office, and will pick up bags placed at the curb at no cost. If homeowners have large, bulky items or large amounts of debris that need to be removed, the town will remove those items or debris for a fee of $10 to $25, depending on the amount, but the refuse must be placed at the curb.

Smith stressed the importance of the yearly clean-up campaign.

“I think it’s important to make our town look good,” he says. “To make it a friendly community, I think we need to respect and take pride in our town. We have an enormous amount of tourists that floats [sic] through this town in a year’s time.”

“It would be my hopes that the residents would take some pride and take advantage of the clean-up and take advantage of the town’s offer to haul away for them. That’s a big thing because we have a lot of senior renters and people that just don’t have the means to get rid of their debris. You know, they may want to, but they don’t know how to do it. So, we will do it for them.”

Smith said he plans to enforce ordinances that require residents to keep their property clean.

“At the end of the two weeks, any yards and what-not that has severe debris laying in them, we will begin citing people under town ordinance for failure to keep their property in respectable shape,” he says.

The mayor said examples of unacceptable debris include junk cars, broken-down lawnmowers and mattresses.

“Even though it’s on private property, there are ordinances in place that authorize citations,” he says. “It could range up to a $500 fine. I’m not saying it would be, but it could be up to $500.”

Smith said absentee owners, whose properties are neglected, will be located and fined.

“Somebody owns it,” he says. “Someplace along the way, it’s owned by somebody. The owner of the property is responsible; just that point blank – they’re responsible. If you own a house and live in Lewisburg, even though you own a piece of property here that you’re letting go in disrepair, you’re responsible for it, and those names and ownerships can be located through the tax office. We hopefully will not have to go that far, but we will send them a letter with a citation.”

In serious cases, Smith said there are legal mechanisms which allow the town to remove hazardous conditions, such as an abandoned, dilapidated house.

“We can go on, once we have a court order – it’s my understanding that you can go on to the property and remove the hazard, so to speak,” he says. “If the property owner refuses to pay for the removal of it, then you get a court lien against it and they will eventually end up paying for it.”

Marlinton residents who want to schedule a pick-up of large items or debris should call the town office at 304-799-4315.