Two Steps Forward

The city has taken small but good-to-see steps forward this week.

First, the city is putting the wood to a tenant and landlord on Prichard Street who have been ridiculous with their trash. Fines are being leveled on both. Save Fitchburg is shocked, shocked to see the landlord lives out of town (in Hopkinton) and couldn't be tracked down for comment. Hopefully this is the first in a series of similar takedowns by the city. This is an egregious case, from what it sounds like, and is a good start.

Second, the City Council voted boost the fines for dumping from $25 to $250. Considering the city charges $20 to $30 for picking up the stuff that gets dumped all over the city, that $25 fine had zero teeth. Hopefully the city can create a monitoring system that will help nail dumpers and smack them with these tougher fines. There's been some discussion of video cameras, but we're not sure how much that helps on 5th Mass Turnpike or other wide open areas that are tough to monitor. Enforcement will be tough on this, but it should be a priority and the new fines will hopefully get people to think twice.