The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors is asking residents to be more discerning when it comes to putting out debris.
Tuesday morning the board voted unanimously to take its unofficial debris policy and make it official in light of a growing problem with inappropriate debris, ranging from logs to stumps to household appliances.
Road Manager Mike Aldridge explained the department had been advertising several times a year in order to tell people what was and was not kosher, but to little avail.
“We have published that in the paper over and over again for eight or 10 years now,” Aldridge said. “I follow that unless somebody (on the board of supervisors) tells me not to.”
Under the terms of the policy, the county will pick up small debris such as shrubbery and small trees or limbs, as long as they are no larger than 3 feet long. It will not pick up stumps, large logs, household garbage, rubbish, appliances, items from remodeling or debris from contractor work.
The only exception will be after severe weather, Aldridge said.
“Any kind of storm damage we’ve never rejected (picking up larger items),” Aldridge said. “It’s this business of contractors cutting down a bunch of trees and piling them up on the road. It’s not the county’s responsibility to pick that up.”
Board of Supervisors President Trip Hairston said having an official policy will give Aldridge “coverage” when he refuses to pick up debris.
After the meeting, Hairston told The Dispatch picking up large pieces of debris causes a cascade of problems.
“There’s a lot more wear and tear on the equipment,” Hairston said. “You start picking up large portions of trees, you have to get the excavator in there. It ties up manpower for something that ought to be handled by the homeowner. Don’t burden the taxpayer because of your construction.”
For more information, Aldridge said to contact the road department at (662) 434-8219.
Plaque at Confederate monument
The supervisors unanimously gave Columbus citizen George Hazard permission to put up a plaque in Friendship Cemetery explaining how and when the Confederate monument was relocated.
The monument was erected on the southwest corner of the Lowndes County Courthouse in 1912. The supervisors voted to relocate it in July 2020, and it was removed in May 2021. It was reassembled in the cemetery near Confederate graves in June 2022.
Hazard suggested this part of the statue’s history is important, too.
“Several people have thought that, given our state’s history, this is a decision worth reminding people about,” Hazard said. “The presence of the statue no longer reflects a 1912 decision, which is what you would think.”
Hazard said the marker would be put up “in a readable position near the base of the big monument.”
Columbus Marble Works gave an estimate of around $1,000 to construct and install the marker, Hazard said, and individual donors have raised that amount. There will be no cost to the county.
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks moved, with a second by District 3 Supervisor John Holliman, to give Hazard permission to put up the marker.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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