Garbage trucks littering highway annoy Adams County supervisors

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors expressed alarm Monday about the excessive amount of trash being blown out of garbage trucks on U.S. 61 to Waste Management’s landfill south of Natchez. They said they’ll urge the company to take measures to stop the littering.

“Somebody needs to be held responsible,” said Supervisor Wes Middleton, who noted he has video of truck-hauled trash spewing out on a stretch of highway between Roux 61 restaurant and WM’s garbage dump near Sibley.  “It’s plumb embarrassing,” he said of the trashy thoroughfare many visitors use to enter Natchez.

Waste Management does not pick up residential trash in Adams County but operates the landfill about 15 miles from Natchez for other customers. The county’s trash collector is Metro Service Group. Arrow Disposal Service picks up trash for residents inside Natchez. Both take their garbage to the Riverbend landfill north of Natchez on U.S. 61.

—

Adams County is getting nearly $40,000 for its courts thanks to funds distributed by the state in response to COVID. County officials said the money could be used for technology to allow remote video court hearings so people won’t need to gather in courtrooms and risk getting infected by the contagious coronavirus.

The Mississippi Legislature earlier this year allocated more than $1 billion in federal CARES Act money for a wide variety of COVID-related expenses ranging from health care to tourism needs.

—

County board President Ricky Gray said city and county leaders need to decide soon if they’re “all in or all out” for their joint efforts to operate and upgrade Natchez-Adams County’s recreation programs.

Gray expressed concerns Monday about their consolidated efforts “going so slow” since  Natchez aldermen and county supervisors formed their compact in 2015 to enhance community parks and recreation offerings The city and county officials appointed a commission to oversee recreation with the YMCA contracted to manage it, but it’s been in disarray since the YMCA pulled out in 2019.

Gray said city and county officials need to set a deadline to decide whether to continue their consolidated recreation program or sever ties.

Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said in October that negotiations had begun on redoing the city-county recreation compact and build a new sports-and-wellness center at Liberty Park. The county and city boards did get a pool built there in 2018 for about $1.3 million, but various snags and changes have stalled other upgrades local leaders envisioned when they formed the compact.

The consolidated recreation agreement formed five years ago called for the county board to annually allocate $334,000 to combine with $550,000 from the city board for the Natchez-Adams County Recreation Commission to appropriate for operating recreation programs and build new facilities. A new city-county compact could dissolve the commission.