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Fall River committee asks corporation counsel to tighten illegal-dumping fines and enforcement tools
Summary
The Ordinance and Legislation Committee discussed gaps between the city’s litter/dumping fines and the actual cost to remove waste. Members asked Corporation Counsel to revise city code and a fee schedule and referred the matter for legal drafting and clarification of enforcement options including criminal restitution.
Fall River’s Ordinance and Legislation Committee voted to refer the city’s littering and illegal-dumping ordinance language to Corporation Counsel after a wide-ranging discussion about enforcement, fines and costs to remove dumped materials.
Councilor Raposa, chairing the discussion, said committee members and staff concluded that existing fines in city code are too low to deter illegal dumping. "I think my colleagues on that committee agreed that the fines are too low regardless," Raposa said. Committee members and public-safety staff described examples—dumped tires and construction debris—that carry a real disposal cost far above the typical $300 municipal fine.
Al Olivera, director of city operations, told the committee the city bears…
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