Throughout the city of Corpus Christi, there has been concern over the amount of illegal dumping on city roads. Although this has been an on-going issue for many years, some residents have had enough and one council member is trying to do something about it.
Nearby business manager, Will Ohmstede, says he doesn’t like the way all the trash makes the city look. “I’ve spoken with Code Enforcement and, sometimes they can help and it’s literally, 3 or 4 days later you got tires again.”
Ohmstede’s business is right down Flato Rd., and he says the worse part of the illegal dumping is down Bates Dr.
“I’d just like to be able to take pride in driving down the road close to the business where I work and not feel embarrassed to my employees and customers that we work in …a trash heap,” says Ohmstede.
Roads like Bates Dr and West Point Rd are some of the most popular sites for illegal dumping of tires. As of June 27, 2018, there were about 15 tires throughout the stretch of Bates Dr.
Will Ohmstede has spoken with city council member at-large, Paulette Guajardo about this on-going problem.
Guajardo says “there is zero to very little lighting, and zero to very little activity going on in the evenings when it gets dark. So it’s just easier to do there.”
She brought the issue up in the City Council meeting on Tuesday, June 26, for a discussion on what the city could do.
“So one of the things that we can do first and foremost, as most things, is the education,” says Guajardo.
During the city council meeting Tuesday, the Solid Waste department was present and tells KRIS 6 that maybe an education campaign on illegal dumping needs to come back in play. During that meeting, city council even mentioned a city ordinance on illegal dumping, but no set plans have been made to see if that’s even possible.
However, Guajardo feels that lights should be put up in all of the illegal dumping road sites. “It sounds very simple to say,” Guajardo says, “"well just, you know, put up a light pole." It’s not that simple. It costs. And so we have to be careful, but it is something that we can’t just keep pushing aside.”
Solid Waste has stated that residents are allowed to take up to four tires a day free of charge to the J.C. Elliott Landfill, tires are also allowed during brush and bulky collections.
For more information on Solid Waste do’s and don’t’s, click here.
City Council will not have any meetings for the next two weeks, but KRIS 6 is told that this is an ongoing discussion to find a resolution on illegal dumping.
