By Jeremy Weldon

Batesville Alderman Stan Harrison told fellow board members at last Wednesday’s regular board meeting he intends to keep bringing up the problem of trash and litter inside the city limits again this year.

“This is the first meeting of the year and I know you other board members are tired of hearing me talk about the trash problem this city has, but I’m telling you that I’m going to keep talking about it until we find a way to clean some of this up,” Harrison said at the Jan. 2 meeting.

“It’s an absolute shame that we have to keep bringing this up, but the truth is that nothing ever seems to get done. We work and work to get the same areas cleaned up and a month later they are in the same shape,” Harrison said.

Other aldermen and the mayor agreed with the assessment. “I know we have some problems in certain areas but we are doing all we possibly can without hiring more help,” said Mayor Jerry Autrey. “This board is just going to have to keep on top of it and figure out where we need to concentrate the most.”

The mayor noted that city employees do a good job of keeping most of the downtown streets cleaned regularly, but outlying areas are often harder to maintain.

Board members said most of the complaints they receive are from residents of streets off the main city roadways, who say that traffic coming to and going from Batesville proper is responsible for extra litter.

“It’s easy to see what’s happening,” Harrison said. “These folks are getting food and drinks in town and about the time they finish eating they are getting to these roads where you can see trash almost every day of the week.”

Woodland, House-Carlson, Brewer, and Eureka Roads were also cited as problem areas. “The problem is that we have never yet made somebody pay for littering in this city. We warn them and we warn them, but until somebody has to pay a big fine nothing is going to change,” Harrison said.

The Panola County Board of Supervisors faces the same dilemma outside the city limits. The county spends a large sum each budget year picking up trash and working to combat illegal dumping. The supervisors have purchased concealable cameras with high resolution capabilities in an attempt to capture license plates and clear pictures of the faces of drivers who litter or dump debris illegally.

Successful prosecutions in such cases are difficult for law enforcement, however, because witnesses are usually not available for testimony or are unable to positively identify motorists who are seen throwing trash from vehicles.