MOSS-The Clay County Sanitation Dept. last week announced new hours of operation at the dumpsite here.

The new hours and days of operation will go into effect on Monday, January 12, and are as follows:

Monday: 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Tuesday: Closed

Wednesday: 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Thursday: Closed

Friday: 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Saturday: 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Sunday: Closed

The news release from the department also explained the reasons for the changes.

“As many of you may have already noticed, we have added a new fence to the Moss dumpsite,” the release said. “This fence helps us with a costly problem and will help increase the amount of recyclables obtained from this site. Illegal dumping by non-Clay County residents has long been a problem with several of our sites that are close to other counties and states.

“The Moss dumpsite is manned throughout the day, but is open to anyone at night. This allows non-residents to have access to this site. The increased amount of tonnage from non-residents adds to our tonnage and labor costs. This also causes a decrease the amount of recyclables obtained. In an attempt to help keep operating costs down, and to help us maintain our 21 percent tonnage reduction that is required by the state each year, we have added a fence and are implementing new hours of operation,” the release said.

“Illegal dumping is costly to all citizens of Clay County. The Clay County Sanitation Advisory Board has reviewed this problem and approved these hours and days for operation,” the release said. “We would also like to thank all the citizens and businesses that continue to support the recycling program.”

Those who have any questions can call the sanitation department at 243-4478.