Sandoval County launches expanded Preserve Sandoval Program

Sandoval County announced Tuesday the launch of an expanded Preserve Sandoval program.

The pilot program operated successfully in 2022, addressing illegal dumping sites on Right of Ways in District 4. It was an activity sponsored by Commission Chair David Heil. This expanded program, now in effect, covers all of Sandoval County.

The formula is simple: The public identifies illegal dumping on public rights of way, and then individuals or nonprofit organizations can register with the county as vendors to haul away the trash for a set fee.

“These illegal dumping sites pose a safety issue to our residents and they diminish the beauty of our landscape and neighborhoods,” County Manager Wayne Johnson said. “Preserve Sandoval demonstrates the commitment between the public and the county for a safer, more aesthetically pleasing environment by working together to remediate this blight. It also provides a revenue source to individual and nonprofit contractors. It’s a win-win endeavor.”

The county funds the program through revenues generated by landfill fees. No taxpayer dollars are used.

“We want to clean up the illegal dumping in our public right of ways,” Daniel Beaman, director of Planning and Zoning, said. “These are roads, road shoulders, pathways, ditches and other strips of land in neighborhoods and open space that run adjacent to private property lines and utility easements. Because they are adjacent to private properties, public right of ways are vulnerable to illegal dumping. Preserve Sandoval seeks to address existing sites and going forward, deter illegal dumping in our ROWs.”

Preserve Sandoval is a three-pronged effort managed on the county’s website.

Here are the three components of the program that operate concurrently:

• IDENTIFYING LOCATIONS
  Residents identify locations fitting the program’s criteria and enter them on the Preserve Sandoval portal. Next, code enforcement officers verify these locations’ eligibility. If qualified, then these locations are posted on the web and are ready to be assigned to a cleanup vendor.
• REGISTERING TO PERFORM DUMP SITE CLEANUP
  Individuals and nonprofit organizations can register online to become county vendors so that they can perform the cleanup. Following receipt of the application, the county will notify registrants if they are approved as vendors.
• THE CLEANUP: TRASH INTO GOLD
  Approved vendors will be able to identify sites that they would like to clean up, and whenever possible, these sites will be assigned to them. They then take the collected trash to the Sandoval County Landfill and are paid $100 for every cubic yard of hauled trash.

Preserve Sandoval vendors can work on up to five sites at a time. Beaman also said that if Preserve Sandoval vendors notice other illegal dump sites in an area where they are working, they should directly notify Planning and Zoning. A code enforcement officer will then inspect the sites, take photos and if qualified, add them to the list.

Locations are added constantly to the website. Individuals and nonprofits are encouraged to apply to qualify as Preserve Sandoval vendors and to frequently check the website for available locations.