Our Place
Trash. The snow has melted and the trash has been piling up in the timber and brush throughout the area of the Geneva Lake communities. It’s collected behind the businesses, homes, roads and along our creeks, and in the ditches all winter long, and probably longer.
Who is responsible for cleaning this mess up, as the weather moderates? It used to be the Department of Corrections would use inmates to clean up the trash along the highways. Clean up programs were also set up where volunteers would adopt a highway or a section of roadway to clean up on a regular basis. Some states and counties still have such great programs, however, there are also the smaller areas like alleys and backyards to consider. Look around the parking lots, behind the dumpsters, in the vacant woods that run through the local towns, and it is obvious that few are today taking responsibility for the dirty, ugly, sometimes smelly messes. The job of picking up trash is not a pleasant thing, but neither is living with this kind of thing in and around the communities.
Because Geneva Lake is a tourist area, many owners of businesses (who do not live locally) aren’t in the geographic area until the trees and foliage are full, hiding the trash from view, creating an ‘out of sight out of mind’ situation. GSR X-file investigators did a little research and discovered that property owners are responsible for the management or clean up of the trash on their property.
Fines can be levied against property owners if the accumulation of trash is considered to be a hazard to the public. What will be done this spring? Will someone take some sort of action? Fines are only marginally effective in getting areas cleaned up and ready for the summer. What really has to happen is a process of alerting the public, and then relying on good citizens (who get little credit) to rally and organize groups of other caring and concerned citizens for cleanup purposes.
The GSR X-Files investigators will be out there looking for areas that need work and bringing the public’s attention to those areas. Help when and where you can.
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