A Columbus resident is frustrated about dumping issues
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) “It is very disheartening, I am the type of person who likes to keep nice yards, and I take pride in where I live,” said Larry Priest, lives on Pennington Drive. “To see this type of thing is very disheartening.”
Lowndes County resident Larry Priest is frustrated about illegal dumping where he lives.
See, debris, trash, and tree limbs are on both sides of the road on Pennington Drive.
“There is anger,” said Priest. “Disappointment, and all types of emotions that come up when you are seeing your neighborhoods messed up.”
Priest tells WCBI, it is not just random people doing the dumping; all of the trash is being left by a property owner.
He said, things like this attract rodents and decrease property values.
“Aww man, I am glad that I am not trying to sell right now because I cannot afford to move,” said Priest. “Who is going to move into a cell where this is your greeting area?”
“This also provides a home for rats, and so it can pose as a health problem,” said Priest.
Priest said this has been an ongoing problem, and one of the most frustrating parts is that he has made several attempts to fix the problem, but nothing has been done.
“There is a problem about what the county has a right of way to, and what is privately owned, so when the dumps are on private property, it is looked to for the landowner to do it, who may not live there and who isn’t going to do it,” said Priest. “So, then the county says they cannot do anything, and then the dumps remain.”
Lowndes County District One Supervisor Matt Furnari said, the county and the Sheriff’s Office have done everything they can, it is now a waiting game for the issue to be resolved.
“When all the process goes through, then that green lights us to go clean it,” said Furnari. “I have been involved in two of these processes, and it can take up to a year.”
Priest said he has cleaned up some of the trash himself, and he said he will continue to clean, and fight for all of the debris to be cleared.
