Neighborhoods May See Increase in Parking Citations

Code Inspectors to Issue Parking Citations

El Paso, Texas – Code Enforcement inspectors now have the authority to issue parking tickets, the City of El Paso Environmental Services Department announced.

An ordinance amendment to Title 12 adopted earlier this month by City Council empowers inspectors to issue parking citations. Fines will vary depending on the parking violation. Before the change only police officers could issue citations for all parking violations.

Though the ordinance amendment is now effective, the Environmental Services Department will provide a short grace period before the citations are issued to allow for public outreach.

Code enforcement inspectors will begin issuing parking citations in January 2012.  In the meanwhile, they will continue to issue warning notices for parking violations while patrolling neighborhoods within the city limits.

“Every day our code enforcement inspectors encounter parking violations and they leave warning notices. Unfortunately, sometimes notices are not enough to change public behavior,” Environmental Services Director Ellen Smyth said. “Now, our inspectors will be able to respond to the violations by ticketing vehicles, particularly those obstructing the public’s access to sidewalks, blocking driveways or parked on unapproved surfaces, such as lawns.”

The public may report violations by calling 915-599-6290. 

Recycle Leftover Cooking Oil, Grease from Your Kitchen

Here's a press release from the Environmental Services Department of the City of El Paso:

Recycle Leftover Cooking Oil, Grease from Your Kitchen

Thinking of frying a turkey for the holidays? Not sure what to do with the leftover used cooking oil and grease?

Citizens can now take used frying and cooking oils to a City of El Paso Citizen Collection Stations. The City of El Paso Environmental Services Department has partnered with Global Alternative Fuel, LLC, to provide residents with a way to recycle used cooking and frying oils.

Residents should never wash cooking fats, oil or grease down the drain, as they can cause the sewer line to back up into your home or in the storm drains, which flow to our wastewater treatment plants.

The goal of the partnership is to convert the spent cooking oil and grease into biodiesel. The service is being offered as a pilot project. The service is free and available solely to residents, who pay a solid waste disposal fee to the City of El Paso. Used cooking oils from businesses, including restaurants, will not be accepted.

Residents can dispose of up to 15 gallons of used cooking oil per person, per visit to a Citizen Collection Site.

The sites also accept many household hazardous wastes, such as old paint, pesticides, and fluorescent lamps. For a list of household hazardous waste accepted at the sites visit http://www.ci.el-paso.tx.us/environmental_services/citizen_collection.asp or call 621-6700.
Citizen Collection Stations are open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. They are located at:

· NORTHEAST: 4501 HONDO PASS
· CENTRAL: 2492 HARRISON
· WESTSIDE: 121 ATLANTIC
· SOUTHSIDE: 4200 DELTA
· EASTSIDE: 9000 ESCOBAR

The sites will be closed on Thanksgiving Day but they will resume operations on Friday.

Environmental Services in El Paso

One of the best run departments in the City of El Paso (if not the best) is Ellen Smyth's Environmental Services. Among all the things that they do (collect garbage and recycling as well as promote and enhance "a clean and healthy environment"), they make sure that folks are in compliance with those codes that have to do with keeping a neat yard and sidewalk, disposing of garbage correctly, following zoning restrictions, maintaining walls and fences and so forth.

That is why it is surprising that some disgruntled neighbor in or around Dyer Street felt it necessary to counterfeit compliance notices and mail it to some of his or her neighbors. Why go to the time and expense when a call to 774-4500 will do the trick? Even easier for those online is to fill out the General Request Form of Environmental Services. (I would give the form a new name such as Compliance Form or something like that. There is nothing about General Request that tells me that is where I should click to report a compliance issue.) Complaints are kept confidential and investigations with results follow quickly.