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Baileys Harbor Green Site Temporarily Closed

A few bad apples have spoiled the bunch for users of Baileys Harbor’s Green Site. The town was forced to temporarily close the Green Site last week because of an “astronomical amount of illegal dumping,” according to Town Clerk Haley Adams. 

The Baileys Harbor town board is expected to take up the issue during its next meeting. In the meantime, the town will reopen the site on a limited basis, including on Saturday, July 18, from 1-4 pm. On that day residents will be required to show proof of residency – such as a utility bill, drivers license, or tax bill – to access the site and an attendant will let users in into the site. 

The town has had problems with people dumping garbage and misusing recycling bins for years. Some residents, nonresidents and contractors have abused the site, leaving refrigerators, toilets, carpeting and many other nonrecyclable items. 

That has escalated during recent weeks, and the town has been forced to make multiple runs to dump trash at Going Garbage at a cost of more than $1,000 each time, Adams said. 

The Green Site was created several years ago as a spot for Baileys Harbor residents to dump yard waste, brush and recycling. Residents can also pick up soil and mulch there. 

The site is marked with clear signage outlining who is allowed to use it and the rules for its use, but because it is not always staffed, those rules cannot be fully enforced. Town Supervisor Roberta Thelen said in a recent Peninsula Pulse letter to the editor that the site “could be considered a failed honor-system experiment.”