WEST POINT, Miss. (WTVA) — The city of West Point is cracking down on trash piled up in yards and abandoned vehicles.
And with the city making a stronger effort to look more appealing, some residents are beginning to see progress toward a better curbside appeal.
"I have seen them make a dire effort to get those things done, and even in my old neighborhood, I've seen improvement," adds Pauline Ewing, West Point resident. "I can appreciate those kinds of things."
The city is also cracking down on commercial businesses who have left but still own property with debris visible.
"Go to a neighborhood where people have kept it all very meticously all summer and still do, and then next door or in the street adjacent to them is an abandoned vehicle, and that's some of the stuff were trying to clean up," adds Dwight Prisock, West Point building official. "Some people have just let trash pile up, and it just makes the whole neighborhood look bad."
For commercial business owners and residents of West Point that are in violation of the city ordinance, they can be cited if they do not take action after receiving a warning.
"If we don't get any sort of a response from them, we issue them a letter, and we give them 72 hours for response," says Prisock. "If we don't get any response out of that, we issue a citation, and they have to show up in municipal court and let the judge adjudicate it."
There are some things the city's sanitation department will not haul away due to environmental reasons.
"They will not pick up tires because of the landfill issues. We have no place to dispose of them," adds Prisock. "Chemicals such as hazardous chemicals, we can't pick those up, but everything else, if it's just normal garbage, then put it out."
City leaders say with properties meeting the code, the city has a better shot at landing additional industry.
