TEMPLE, Texas — Richard Gillis lives in an area of Temple known as the Garden District. He said its a nice place to live, except for an undeveloped lot that people use as a free dumping ground.
Gillis said he had been trying to get the City of Temple to do something about the lot for a year and had called code compliance multiple times. Finally, on Tuesday, he drove to the Code Compliance office in Temple to try and get something done.
"I went down to the city offices and asked them where we are in the process," Gillis said. "I was told it was a long process, it takes time, they have to send letters, certified letters, and get the city attorney involved."
Gillis had called the Temple Code Compliance office but it's not clear if that resulted in a record for the city to follow up on.
Thursday, when 6 News asked Temple Spokeswoman Kiara Nowlin what residents should do in this situation, Nowlin suggested using the city's Track Temple website.
With the Track Temple site, residents can file a variety of reports. Illegal dumping can be reported from the Code Compliance tab. You can also email the code compliance directly at codecompliance@templetx.gov. Residents can call the office at 254 298 5670, though that may not result in a record.
Fortunately, after Gillis made multiple calls, he did eventually get results. The City of Temple couldn't put up a sign to discourage dumping without the permission of the lot's owner. Gillis found a way to contact that owner and then the owner contacted the city this week to provide permission.
Suddenly, on Thursday, Temple Spokeswoman Kiara Nowlin told 6 News the City of Temple would be placing a sign.
"Code compliance is working with public works to get that sign up as soon as we possibly can because we take these cases very seriously," Nowlin said.
Nowlin later told 6 News the sign discouraging illegal dumping should be up by next week. According to Nowlin, fines handled through the Municipal Court can range from $286 - $481.
6 News also asked Nowlin what Temple is doing to address illegal dumping.
"The public can report it. Our departments report it. We do patrol these neighborhoods and we take these cases very seriously. We are patrolling and we work had to stop people from dumping," Nowlin said.
The City of Temple website also states residents can take one pickup load of general household waste per month to the Temple landfill for free. Read more about that option here.