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LIBERTY -- One trustee noted that there was nothing in the township's code that required garbage cans to be moved, but is definitely something they should consider adding.
At Monday's meeting, trustees heard from Kim Quinlan, who noted garbage cans are being left out all day and week, adding that they weren't just in areas like Green Acres Drive and Northgate Avenue, but all over the township.
"(They're) basically on the street, and it is an eyesore," Quinlan said. "I'm finding it in a lot of other places, a lot of rental places, and then they'll leave it there constantly -- stuff falls on the ground, they're not picking it up, and that's why I'm not either."
Quinlan said the township needs to do something, noting that where she's from, residents had until 11 p.m. to get garbage cans moved to the front of their house, the side or out of sight, adding that she brought pictures from years ago, but the issue has only worsened.
"I don't care if they pick up my garbage Friday, they're going to be there -- it's not a problem to me," Quinlan said.
Trustee Arnie Clebone said there is nothing in Liberty's zoning code that requires residents to move their garbage cans, so they can't tell them to do that.
"I think it needs to be part of our maintenance code, or I don't know, would it be better in our home rule or our zoning code?" Clebone said.
Quinlan noted she's traveled through areas like Howland and Girard, and she doesn't see their cans out 24/7.
Zoning inspector Melissa Ritchie said Weathersfield has a form of enforcement in place, adding that she spoke with Quinlan earlier about the topic.
Ritchie said she contacted Howland officials, who said they don't have any regulations on trash cans because they have multiple haulers that come in on multiple days at different times.
"They can't keep track of them, so they don't have anything for that; they went to their zoning commission, and it was denied," Ritchie said. "I did speak with our zoning commission last year or earlier this year in regards to possibly getting something in the books."
"They weren't really keen on that, but I will approach them again if I can draw, grab some regulations from other communities," she added.
Ritchie said they could add to the township's regular language, but if people challenge it, the case would go down to the Trumbull County courthouse, not Girard Municipal Court.
"Do we really want to take it that far?" Ritchie said.
Clebone said Wednesday that he thinks some kind of requirement should be considered for the township's code.
"People should have some obligation to take their garbage cans in; there are issues with it, sometimes the garbage isn’t picked up for a day or two," Clebone said. "You have to make sure you have something in there that you’re not going to penalize people because the garbage truck didn’t come around, or they might go on vacation or something like that."