Residents could be jailed for putting furniture out with trash in Vandergrift

Upholstered furniture items are now forbidden to be put out for garbage pick-ups in Vandergrift.

Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an ordinance prohibiting residents from doing that.

Anyone wanting to test how serious borough officials are about the ordinance should be prepared to pay a fine ranging from a minimum of $300 to a maximum of $1,000 for violating it. Or spend 30 days in jail.

Furniture items such as upholstered couches, chairs, ottomans, mattresses and box springs were not the only items eliminated from the borough’s waste stream by the ordinance.

Overall, the ordinance prohibits items or materials “not commonly produced in homes” — including appliances, industrial refuse, dead animals, machinery or parts of machinery, vehicles or parts of vehicles — to be put out for the borough’s garbage crew.

In May, Councilwoman Christine Wilson, chairwoman of the streets and sanitation committee, raised concerns about upholstered furniture attracting and harboring pests such as lice and bedbugs. She said it creates an unhealthy situation for the borough workers who have to handle those items and were getting bitten by the bugs.

She had no problem in convincing her fellow council member to support the ordinance.

Residents wanting to get rid of the prohibited items will have to make arrangements with independent haulers to do so.

While the fines for violators can be hefty, they can get even more hefty.

The ordinance stipulates that after the initial notice of violation each day an offender neglects to comply with any provision of the ordinance will be deemed a separate offense subject to additional penalties.