Its a Scam

Patti Heinemann These are people who in many cases are legally disposing of their trash in a manner prescribed under STATE law but for some reason Pocahontas county refuses to take means other than paying them a fee or paying someone else to pick up your trash at your home.

For example many who divide and recycle take aluminum cans and tin cans to a disposal that pays you cash FOR DOING SO. 

Yet Pocahontas county says this is against their rules. Problem is their rules are supposed to also be in compliance with State rules but they are not. 

So anyone who does not pay the green box fee is charged with failure to dispose properly.

The state even allows for low income to be discounted fee or even exempt in extreme poverty cases. This too is ignored by our County. 

I personally have never used the green boxes nor have I ever taken anything to the land fill. I recycle everything in legal manners and compost garbage. 

This is considered improper disposal by our illustrious county even thought the state says its proper. 

Many people are uninformed about this and think anyone who does not pay the land fill/green box fee is a criminal. 

Untrue!

Our landfill is not in compliance with state law and does not recycle as required by law saying Pocahontas County is different than any other county in the state. That actually means unequal protection under the law for Pocahontas County citizens. 

The Solid waste commission sued or charged over 1/3 or the households in this county with this bogus charge and then intimidate people into paying the fines and fees. 

Over 1/3 of our households is a lot of people. The Solid waste are appointed officials taxing us on something we did not vote for without allowing for state laws to also apply. 

They also decided it is not important for them to take an oath of office and they can use the solid waste fees as collateral for something they personally want to buy or obtain like more land.. (Illegal by the way) they also have not been audited in years while state and federal law says ALL public organizations must go through audit yearly. 

This is to keep corruption out as well as balance books but Pocahontas county thinks they are special and do not need to follow this law.

 So as they force people to pay fees for something they do not use, think about the liberty of these people before one says good, 

I pay therefore everyone should pay.

There are other legal ways of disposal. 

Think about the guy who pays a solid waste fee in the county where he resides but then is forced to pay again here when he spent one week here in a small camp hunting deer. 

He neatly bundles his trash, takes it back home with him and disposes of it in his own county.

To our officials this is against their rule3s and not allowed and he must dispose o his weeks worth of trash here and pay the entire yearly fee even when he is only here one week and pays another fee where he lives. 

Make sense yet? 

All other counties charge a per bag fee and if one does not buy the bags and instead recycles he does not pay a fee or he only pays for what he uses. Not so here. Business such as Snowshoe produce 75% of the solid waste in this county but get to pay a per tonnage fee at the landfill. 

This means they make 75% of the trash yet pay only 25% of the cost of the landfill while those households that do pay the landfill fee each year produce about 25% of the waste going into the landfill and pay 75% of the costs. 

Does this seem fair?

 So when you see all those failure to dispose properly this is what it is about. Whether you pay the fee or not, one has to admit it is all administered unfairly if it does not comply with state laws.

Norman's note:  The county's current scheme is unlawful and in direct conflict with state law.  You need to join Patti in this fight and call a halt to these false arrests.

Law is a matter of definition.  The county is improperly defining what "lawful disposal" is.  

You are being prosecuted illegally by the county!  You do not owe these fines!!

Stand up; Speak up!

P.S.  Patti Heinnemann knows this to be true.  She just won her case in magistrate court based on the above arguments.