E'town to amend scrap metal ordinance

Elizabethtown city officials are in the process of tweaking an ordinance regulating purchases made by junk, secondhand and scrap metal dealers through the Leads Online database, which can be accessed by the Elizabethtown Police Department as a tool to locate stolen items.

Elizabethtown City Council approved the first reading of an amended ordinance after city officials met with some dealers, who suggested the changes to make the ordinance more business friendly.

Under the ordinance, dealers would be required to obtain the license plate number of the vehicle in which the registered item was transported, in addition to photo identification, the address of the seller, the date the property was received and an accurate description of the item.

Dealers also would be required to maintain their records for a minimum of three years under the amended ordinance.

The original ordinance required dealers to refrain from selling, altering or destroying the registered item for five full days after the purchase was made, but the amended ordinance would exclude this requirement if dealers create a digital recording or photograph of the item. The photograph or recording must be maintained with the record of the transaction for at least one year.

A second reading will be later this month.

Marty Finley can be reached at (270) 505-1762 or mfinley@thenewsenterprise.com.