By Becky Polaski

Staff Writer

During their monthly meeting on Tuesday afternoon, members of the Elk County Solid Waste Authority indicated that letters were recently sent to bars and clubs in Johnsonburg regarding glass bottles that have been left at the Borough’s drop-off site.
“A few months back we had that issue,” Solid Waste Authority Chairman Russ Braun said. “It went away for awhile and came back again.”
Enforcement Officer Dave Stubber added that they are not sure that the bars are responsible for dropping off the bottles but individuals at the Borough Office have been keeping a close watch on the drop-off container.
“They’ve been keeping a close eye on it and they’ve been seeing a lot of residents dropping off four cases here, four cases there,” Stubber said. “They’ve been going out when they see individuals (leaving the bottles there) that the glass goes in the container and cannot just be left sitting there.”
Stubber added that Elk Waste Services Inc. did not pick up any of the dropped-off material for a few weeks.
“That’s why it looked like it did,” Stubber said. “They were trying to send a message.”
Authority members also noted that in addition to the glass issue there is a business in Johnsonburg that has been dropping off considerable amounts of cardboard at the site.
Authority members stated that they do know which business is responsible for the cardboard.
“We need to follow up on it and tell them that they really need to contract with somebody,” Elk County Recycling/Solid Waste Coordinator Bekki Titchner said.
Titchner added that the main problem with the business dropping off the cardboard is that the large volume of cardboard being dropped off quickly fills the container making it more difficult for residents to dispose of their cardboard.
“It is just a matter of they’re filling up our container in one day and it is for residents and then they have no room to put their stuff in,” Titchner said.
Authority members plan to discuss the matter with the business.