Freeborn County’s proposed meth ordinance is a good idea.

Clean-up costs to the county, and ultimately taxpayers, is a hefty $1,000 to $3,000 per site. In Albert Lea and Freeborn County, 10 meth labs sit awaiting clean-up. Do the math &045; and the number doesn’t reflect future meth busts, which will of course, increase the cost.

Freeborn County is already ranked near the top of the

list of meth labs in operation, meth found and arrests made. Lack of law enforcement is not the reason we are at the top of the list. The reason is such people like rural areas to conduct their illegal activities, thinking they won’t be detected.

Much of the cost of this addiction is already borne by taxpayers in terms of time drug officers spend investigating the labs, the burden to human services, the courts and jailsystem. Do we really want to pay any more?

While it seems unfair to landlords that they will bear the costs of clean-up, we ask if not them, then who should be responsible?

Landlords remain the frontline in renting to responsible tenants. Perhaps more intense screening of potential renters is in order. Much information is considered public information and available for the asking.

To make it much easier for landlords to monitor their properties, perhaps new legislation is in order, giving landlords broader rights to check their properties when there is suspision of meth activity.

While we sympathize with landlords, the increasing costs of meth labs should not be added to the backs of taxpayers, who already bear more than their fair share of this scourge.