Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the meaning of words and terms as used in this article shall be as follows:

(a)   Garbage means waste resulting from the handling, processing, storage, packaging, preparation, sale, cooking and serving of meat, produce and other foods and shall include unclean containers.

(b)   Refuse means all garbage and/or rubbish or trash.

(c)   Rubbish or Trash means all nonputrescible materials such as paper, tin cans, bottles, glass, crockery, rags, ashes, lawn and tree trimmings, stumps, boxes, wood, street sweepings and mineral refuse. Rubbish or trash shall not include earth and waste from building operations or wastes from industrial processes or manufacturing operations.

(d)   Solid waste means all garbage, rubbish or trash.

(e)   Liquid waste means waste pumped or collected from septic tanks and portable toilets.

(Ord. 2973)

It shall be unlawful for any person, except an employee of the city specifically authorized for that purpose, to collect or transport any solid or liquid waste within the city, without securing a license from the city; provided, that nothing herein shall be construed to prevent a person from hauling or disposing of the solid waste of such providing it is done in such a manner as not to endanger the public health or safety or not to become an annoyance to the inhabitants of the city, and not to litter the streets and alleys of the city.

(Ord. 2973)

Any person desiring to collect or transport solid or liquid waste within the city shall make application for a license to the City Clerk. The application shall set forth the name and address of the applicant, the make and type of vehicle to be operated for collecting and transporting solid or liquid waste. The application shall be accompanied by a certificate of inspection and approval of said vehicle by the County Health Officer issued not more than fifteen (15) days prior to the date of application.

(Ord. 2973)

No license shall be issued unless the applicant shall pay to the City Clerk an annual fee as prescribed in section 1-310 for each vehicle used in the collection and transportation of solid waste. No license shall be issued for the collection and transportation of liquid waste unless the applicant shall pay to the City Clerk an annual fee as prescribed in section 1-310.

(Ord. 3425)

The City Clerk shall issue a license receipt together with a number, which shall be painted on each vehicle. Said number shall be conspicuously placed upon the vehicle in a place and position to be clearly visible and in a condition to be clearly legible. The number shall be used only on the vehicle for which it is issued.

Any vehicle used by any person for the collection and transportation of any waste shall be maintained in a good mechanical condition. The vehicle shall be equipped with an enclosed covered body to prevent the contents leaking or escaping there from. Only tree trimmings or brush may be transported in open-bodied vehicles provided the material is securely tied in place to prevent scattering along the streets and alleys.

The collection and transportation of trash and waste materials shall be at all times under the general supervision of the City Manager or a duly authorized agent, who shall have the authority by and with the consent of the Governing Body to make additional rules and regulations not inconsistent with the terms and provisions of this article requiring that the collection and transportation of trash and waste materials shall be conducted in such manner as not to endanger the public health, or to become an annoyance to the inhabitants of the city, and providing for a proper fee to be charged to the customer.

Any person who shall conduct or operate within the city limits any vehicle for the purpose of collecting and transporting solid or liquid waste without first obtaining a license as required by this article or who shall violate the terms and provisions of this article shall be deemed guilty of a violation of this article.

If a licensee violates any of the provisions of this article, the Governing Body, upon five (5) days’ written notice to the person holding such license, may permanently revoke or cause to be suspended for a period of not more than thirty (30) days such license or certificate. In addition, any person who violates a provision of this article may be charged in Municipal Court with such violation and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500.00), or by imprisonment in jail for not more than thirty (30) days, or both such fine and imprisonment.