Feeling great after helping lead a cleanup in his ward last weekend, Selectman Shawn Williams’ spirit was quickly deflated when he took a ride around his neighborhood with his wife the next day and found bags upon bags of trash, old tires and storm debris dumped on the side of the road.
“I was furious,” Williams said after seeing much of his hard work undone. “I stopped and dug through the a bag or two looking for anything to identify them like mail, but there was so much.”
Williams said the area on School Street had become a popular destination for those inconsiderate enough to illegally dump their trash, but more importantly, it is the location of the historic Universal School building.
“This is Universal School,” he said, gesturing to the empty and overgrown schoolhouse that once served as the center of education in Baertown. “Before it closed down, this is where I went to school. You used to be able to see the building through the underbrush.”
Standing among the piles of trash bags, Williams said he spoke with Police Chief Garland Ward, and they both believe it is time to get the community involved.
“We have a vehicle, but not the tag number. We think it is just one person dumping, and if anyone sees them in the act, they need to get the tag number and call the police,” he said. “We need to let the police handle it, but they need our help.”
He said School Street isn’t the only place in his ward that sees illegal dumping. Pointing toward the nearby Holden Road, he noted people frequently leave trash there, too.
“There are Dumpsters all over the city,” Williams said. “I don’t understand why someone would do this when you could just dispose of the trash properly.”
During an interview with the Enterprise-Journal, multiple residents stopped and voiced their opinions about the dump site, all indicating that it was unwanted and something needed to be done. Williams agreed.
One resident, who said she lives on Carr Street, didn’t initially recognize Williams and asked him and a reporter if they were disposing of trash.
She noted an incident when someone left a goat at the site and she had to call animal control.
Dump sites aren’t exclusive to Williams’ ward. They are endemic to the city and Pike County. Williams said he believes the problem stems from a lack of pride in the city and community.
“Where is the pride? We catch a lot of heat for everything bad in the city, but we are all a part of the city,” he said. “What are you doing to stop the problem, to make change? It doesn’t have to be much. Go on a jog down your street in the morning and pick up trash around your block. If everyone did that, we could see that change.”
