(A) For the purpose of this section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
AUDITOR. The Auditor of Clark County, Indiana.
BOARD. The Board of Commissioners of Clark County, Indiana.
COMMERCIAL HAULER. Any entity, person, hauler, driver, business or group of persons (excluding municipal hauler within the exception of division (C) below) conveying, delivering or seeking to drive, convey or deliver solid waste within the county as part of a business, business operation or any operation for profit.
ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. The Sheriff of Clark County, Indiana and any of the Sheriff’s deputies and shall also mean the franchise holder/operator at the Clark/Floyd Landfill (the “operator”). This definition shall also include the County Engineer and the County Inspector for Weights and Measures.
SOLID WASTE. All describable and non-describable solid and semi-solid waste, except human excretion, but including garbage, rubbish, ashes, street cleaning, debris, dead animals offal and solid commercial, industrial and institutional waste.
SOLID WASTE DISPOSAL SERVICE. Actions conducted by any person, persons or business, which, for consideration and business profit, offers to remove solid waste from any residence, apartment, condominium, business or other location within the county.
(B) No person, persons or business entity shall engage in the above business activities or conduct solid waste disposal services within the boundaries of the county without first obtaining a non-exclusive permit from the Board through the offices of the Board.
(C) No city or town in the county which provides solid waste disposal services shall be required to acquire a permit under this section if, in fact, the city is utilizing its own employees and equipment for providing such services.
(D) The Board shall charge annually a fee of $1,000 for each permit. Permits shall be purchased annually from the office of the Board on or before January 20 of each year. For larger commercial haulers using several trucks, there shall be an additional charge of $10 per truck in order to meet the requirements hereof. Because of enactment of this section, and for 2006 only, permits may be purchased from the office of the Board on or before May 15, 2006 (for 2006 only).
(E) Any enforcement officer designated and identified above is hereby authorized to issue a written citation to any person attempting to provide solid waste disposal services in the county, after the permit deadline date passes and each year hereafter, without having a valid permit issued by the Board.
(F) Upon the issuance of such citation by any such enforcement officer, the Board shall institute ordinance violation procedures in any circuit or superior court of the county. Upon proving each daily violation of this section by a preponderance of the evidence, the violator shall be subject to a fine of not less than $250 and not more than $1,500 for each violation proven, plus court costs. Additionally, upon proving such violation of this section by a preponderance of the evidence, the Board shall be entitled to recover reasonable attorney’s fees, as fixed and determined by the court, but not less than $250. The Board, in such case shall also be entitled to recover all case expenses and costs of litigation that have accrued in civilly prosecuting any individual violation of this section.
(G) Each day any person, any group of persons or any business performs or attempts to perform solid waste disposal services within the county without a permit required by this section and/or in violation of this section shall be considered a separate offense.
(H) Any operator, person or group of persons who fails to obtain the permit required by this section on or before the due date in 2006 and in each and every respective year thereafter shall be assessed a late application fee of $150 per year.
(I) All fees collected by virtue of this section shall be deposited in the county’s Indiana Solid Waste Permit and Bond Fund previously established under Ordinance 9-1993.
(J) Said fund shall be non-reverting in nature, and all proceeds received by operation of this section shall be deposited therein. Expenditures from said fund shall be determined, made and exclusively controlled by the Board of Commissioners without the necessity of appropriation.
(K) Expenditures from said fund may be made for the following purposes:
(1) For the operating expenses, including supplies, of the permit fee and record-keeping system that is contemplated and described in this section;
(2) For expenses connected to the operations of any offices wherein services and furtherance of the purposes and goals of this section are provided, as determined by the Board from time to time;
(3) For such other expenses pertaining to the operations of public services of the county, or for the provision of professional services, or other services, provided to the Board or the county from time to time, as determined by the Board; and
(4) For such other public expenses as are deemed appropriate and necessary to the public interest by the Board.
(L) The Auditor is hereby directed to maintain and manage accurate accounting information concerning the receipts, expenditures and balances of this fund.
(M) No county warrants are authorized to be issued for expenditures from this fund for payments of any monies except upon approval of a claim by the Board. No expenditures from this fund shall be made except in accord with this section.
(N) After publication, and certainly after April 15, 2006, the operator shall give one free entry into the landfill, for each commercial hauler appearing at landfill, with a warning and advisory that no further access will be allowed to the landfill without obtaining a permit under this section.
(O) The staff of the Board shall timely give notice of issuance of all permits hereunder to the operator. Any violation of this section by any person controlling access to the Clark-Floyd Landfill will be subject to the civil prosecution and penalty provisions of this section, by personal or corporate liability.
(P) All prior ordinances mentioned above, and all county resolutions pertaining to this subject matter (if any) are incorporated into this section. This section represents the recodification of all such prior ordinances and resolutions pertaining to this subject matter. Such prior enactments are not repealed by this section. The Board finds that requirements for obtaining the permit described in this section have never lapsed, and have never been negated, since the original enactment of an ordinance requiring such permits.
(Ord. 5-2006, passed 4-20-2006)