A town meeting was held Monday, March 16, 2015 to allow Wagener residents the opportunity to offer advice towards the construction of a town Public Nuisance Ordinance. The town council read over the proposed ordinance, allowing time for resident feedback after each proposed section along with the guidance of Mr. Alton Johnson from the Aiken County Code Enforcement. As council members or town residents brought up concerns and suggestions, Johnson voiced his experience with enforcing such laws. The proposed ordinance intends to minimize the growing problem of health hazards in the town limits such as, but not limited to, outdated or neglected structures, leaking dumpsters, excessive trash and anything that accumulates scents, moisture or darkness which propagates the mosquito and rat population and leads to the spreading of disease.
The Public Nuisance Ordinance will be enforced in such a way as to help residents come into compliance. The enforcement is not meant to punish people, the intent is to make the community better. The town council added, "As long as you are operating in good faith and showing progress, we will work with you." This ordinance will also benefit the community by reducing crime. "What you are about to implement is going to have a direct correlation with crime. Once you start doing this, the criminals will move because you are disturbing their environment."
Once the ordinance is in place, it will be enforced. The town council requests the help of the town residents with this improvement. You can help by reporting abandoned or neglected buildings, leaking dumpsters, vehicle tags that are playing music too loud or have excessively loud mufflers, people who toss trash - cups, bags, wrappers, etc. - on the ground and any piles of things that collect water and breeds mosquitoes. We can all work together to reduce the health hazards in our town.