Funny you should say that because technically “dumpster diving” is legal in all 50 states unless a city ordinance is put in place and https://www.cityofcarrollton.com/departments/departments-a-f/community-development/neighborhood-integrity/common-violations#Trash_&Debris
Unless I missed something doesn’t seem Carrollton has one, and assuming it’s not a locked dumpster or I wouldn’t be trespassing, not so sure what open declaration of law breaking you’re referring to?
But honestly, fine screw them! Shred them for all I care now, it was a simple expression of intrest in not wasting them! But social not even an law justice warriors have jumped all over this so I don’t care anymore! Man some of y’all are the type of people to report untrimmed grass to the hoa good grief
Stupid laws! I could definitely see how it’s frustrating to see abandoned property (which may be useful to someone else) just get trashed. I wish there was some way to make use of the abandoned goods instead of just getting rid of it
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We all do. Nobody working logistics & trashing stuff WANTS to do that. It hurts our souls. And what would make it 100% better instantly? If people stopped abusing storage, and took care of their own stuff. Plain & simple.
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You have no idea how many materials, tools, PPE, etc I disposed of during my ~18 month term as Logistics Chair - the value easily ran into the 5-figure range.
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To Brad’s point, are we allowed to donate to the Goodwill store nearby? We had to dumpster chairs when moving committee areas, and I would’ve been happy to drive them over and get a receipt, but didn’t want it to look like I was taking anything so I let them get thrown out.
In the future, if items like this go to Goodwill, the general public can buy them. Would we be eligible for a tax write off @brsims?
There would need to be proof (photo maybe?) to prove the items were donated and not kept by a member. Or, we could schedule a pickup by Goodwill or AmVets or something to avoid all perception of impropriety.
There’s a Habitat ReStore at Marsh / Forest, could the slabs be donated there?
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The issue with items like these is that we do not own them- they have been abandoned in our facility. We could probably do any number of things with them, but the general consensus has always been that trashing them is the best way to avoid conflict between members. If someone wants to propose a different method, why it’s overall better than what we do now, and be willing to put in the extra work it requires, I’m sure we’d all be very interested in considering it.
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I was actually extending this to things purchased by the space, but if people don’t label their property, the space could end up in a cluttered and possibly dangerous state. As much as I wouldn’t want my stuff thrown out or given away, I understand why we need to have the rule. ReStore might be a good option, along with letting members know where we donate.
One issue of gaming the system would be removing tags, which would not be excellent behavior. Maybe this is why things get thrown out. It’s just a guess, though.
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I think you missed something
Sec. 50.47. Unlawful collection or removal of refuse or recyclable material-- Commercial.
It shall be unlawful for any person other than the city or a commercial private hauler to collect or remove refuse or recyclable material from a commercial container.
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You’ve probably hit the nail on the head.
I’m sure logistics would be willing to talk with you if you’ve got an idea on how to improve the system. Heck, logistics is always looking for volunteers to help. It can certainly be a thankless job. Maybe you can figure out how to change that!
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You stated an intent to commit a crime on DMS property, so yes that would make it a DMS concern
If you take them from the dumpster should they end up there, the police will be notified.
If you have a problem with that, take it up with the city council and the police because you’ve still just been arguing that you should be allowed to dumpster dive after being told it’s not legal in our jurisdiction.
I’m not saying this either; this is also illegal.
Just. Don’t.
And then proceed to argue about doing it anyway and how it’s not our problem. So classy
I’ve already informed you it is illegal and will be reported.
The police have already come for dumpster divers at the DMS dumpster. You’re not a lawyer so you’re not in a position to make a legal opinion, but I’m telling you the police enforce it here as a city ordinance and have asked us to continue notifying them if we see it.
You’ve stated an intent in writing to commit a crime on our property; you were informed it was a crime. You then argued that you think it’s silly and you’ve never personally heard of it yourself so here we are.
Thanks for finding it.
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(Almost) No one likes throwing away items from project storage that have utility.
There are two fundamental problems that come to mind.
- Conversion : We would need all storage users to sign an agreement that they surrender their possessions after some period of exceeding the terms of storage. This would not only require considerable research - and likely sign-off by an attorney - but also necessitate considerably greater administrative overhead since there would likely be a number of shall-perform obligations on the organization.
- Conflict : Part of the reason for offsiting was to reduce conflict as prior to said policy members would shop the dumpster as project storage was being purged and members whose items had been purged returned to see them in someone else’s storage slot or project. The present purgatory system at least reduces shopping of offsite, but I gather that dumpster shopping is a thing again.
Someone wants to do some solid research into the legalities and propose a workable path forward that minimizes administrative burden and also reduce conflict, I imagine the Board and Logistics would be all ears. But there’s a lot of devil in those details and there would need to be ownership of the implementation start to finish.
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It sounds a lot more complicated than it looks on its face.
It must really suck to have to be the person who enforces the rules and throws things out. But yes, the rule exists to keep DMS functioning and I do see the complexities logistics has to deal with here.
If/when a group wants to brainstorm solutions, I’m happy to participate via Google Meet since I’m still staying home due to covid precautions.
I can also make calls or send emails upon approval by the logistics chair and/or BoD to research possible donation organizations, but it’s too soon for that until we grasp the legalities of whether changing how we do it now is worth the risk to the organization.
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In the past it was always stated that if something hit the dumpster it was to NOT return to DMS. The last thing the org needs is someone getting bent out of shape seeing someone else using their (wood, tools, whatever) for a project.
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couldn’t everyone sign a waiver that any abandoned after so many days would be put on display for so many days the first come first serve? I mean obviously you have a an amount of time before considering them abandoned. Kind of like when you see entire contents of an apt or house to the curb.
unfortunately its not that easy. texas has a lot of abandoned property laws. when stuff gets put in storage by a member they are supposed to use a tag that they sign that does have a disclaimer of that nature, but in this case they dont have tags.
but that doesnt mean the dms can just hand them over to the first person who asks for them
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yeah just saying with things like that could put on display for 30 days otherwise i can only imagine how much stuff would start piling up because people just change their mind or don’t want to haul it home etc. Im just saying as I would probably be guilty of that for sure. I ran out of space in my shop long ago. lol Although as i remember tx has a 90 day rule
you are right on the money with put on display for 30 days, (i put unclaimed stuff in a room with a big window and owners can contact me to get it back) and if they dont it gets thrown away
stuff used to pile up by the mountain, but actively maintaining the storage has made it so its more like a small hill once a month that i have to sadly toss in the dumpster
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