ELKINS — The City of Elkins will up the number of citations issued after an uptick in littering, failure to clean up after dogs and improper use of public dumpsters, the mayor announced.

During his Mayor’s Comments portion of Elkins City Council’s Feb. 19 meeting, Jerry Marco voiced some “irritations” he has had with the amount of waste and litter around town that’s been revealed by the recent snow and ice melt.

“As you guys know, I walk my dog around town a lot, and there’s a lot of people really not cleaning up after their dogs,” Marco told the council. “…the number of cigarette butts on the streets is very, very disturbing.”

According to the City of Elkins website, it is legally mandated in Elkins that people must collect and dispose of all dog waste, even on their own property. Under the Elkins City Code regarding unlawful acts, “any litter, trash, garbage or refuse” is considered to be a “nuisance” and is therefore considered unlawful.

Marco informed the City Council that he had spoken to Elkins Police Chief Travis Bennett, who was unable to attend the Feb. 19 meeting, and it was determined that more citations were going to be issued. As he explained, the city needs to be kept clean for citizens, visitors and businesses.

“I mean this is disgusting the way people are littering and not picking up after their dogs,” Marco said. “We have rules in place for a reason.”

Marco said he is especially concerned about people not cleaning up after their dogs in Elkins City Park as local kids will be coming out soon to play on the playground and in the grass. He said there is “dog feces everywhere.”

The mayor stated that there has also been an issue with construction materials being illegally thrown into public dumpsters.

“So the next time I see this happening, I will be calling the police department and saying ‘you may want to come over and get this individual’ because I have been witnessing this quite a bit and it’s illegal to do that,” Marco said. “It’s not your dumpster. You can’t throw construction material in there.”

Marco ended by saying he wanted to put people on notice, and while he acknowledged that some people may become upset by this, it is the law.

Elkins City Council will meet again on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Phil Gainer Community Center.