Magistrate Court Judge Finds Oconee Waste Transport Not Guilty

Oconee County Magistrate Court Judge Samuel Barth on Friday ruled Oconee Waste Transport not guilty of the county’s charge that the trash hauler violated the county’s noise ordinance by tipping dumpsters from a commercial site on Epps Bridge Parkway sometime between Dec. 29, 2016, and Jan. 20, 2017.

Clyde Edwin Pittman, an Athens plastic surgeon who lives at 1591 Tanglebrook Drive just off Epps Bridge Parkway, testified in the trail before Barth on Jan. 12 that he observed OWT emptying trash before 7 a.m. at IHOP on Epps Bridge Parkway and called the county to complain.

Pittman testifed that he could not be specific on the date of his observation other than that it was between Dec. 29, 2016, and Jan. 20, 2017.

Now retired Oconee County Code Enforcement Officer Paul Smith issued a citation to OWT on Jan. 23, 2017, but Smith testified in the trial before Barth that he did not witness the violation and had issued the citation based on Pittman’s complaint.

Barth, in his written statement, gave no explanation for his verdict of not guilty.

For more on the story, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Dumpsters at IHOP 1/20/2018