County fed up with illegal dumping

The Marshall County Board of Supervisors recently discussed problems with illegal dumping of trash on county roadsides and ways to combat it.

The topic came up in conjunction with spring cleanup, a time when roll-off dumpsters are placed at convenient spots over the county for two weeks to help residents get rid of old furniture and household goods.

There is a downside to it. Supervisor George Zinn III said people are  “dumping trash in the middle of the road even though the county has dumpsters in place.”

Zoning director Ken Jones said a bag of trash thrown out on Marianna Cove had address information showing it came from Tate County.

“Dumpster divers trying to find scrap metal are a problem,” supervisor Keith Taylor said. “People are leaving stuff outside the dumpsters (going through it and tossing stuff out of the way to get to the lower layers).”

“They covered the dumpster in Potts Camp up,” said supervisor Ronnie Joe Bennett. “People save their stuff all year to put in a dumpster.”

He suggested the county leave dumpsters year-round in Potts Camp, Waterford, or Laws Hill to help people who would otherwise throw junk in the ditches and gullies rather than drive to the county dump in Holly Springs or in Barton.

“It’s too far for people,” he said.

Supervisor Charles Terry worried that private contractors would unload their construction trash in the dumpsters if they are left out year-round.

He suggested putting them inside a fence and having them open only during certain posted hours as a way to prevent contractors or people outside the county from using the dumpsters.

Bennett suggested the dumpsters be put out one day a week in these remote areas for residents to use.

“I’d rather contractors put it in the dumpsters than in a gully,” he added. “Older folks are going to throw it in a gully (ditch) instead of coming to town. No matter what you do, some people are going to throw stuff out the window.”

Zinn said his main concern is contractors putting their construction waste in the dumpsters instead of taking it to a landfill.

Swaney seeks resort status

Randall Swaney,  accompanied by Sen. Bill Stone, appeared before the board of supervisors to ask for resort status for his new steakhouse and associated business development on Highway 178 between Holly Springs and Red Banks.

Swaney said he plans to open a 350-seat restaurant, plus seating capacity for about 200 outdoors in a picnic area. Parking will be west of the building and valet parking will be over on Bicycle Road, he said.

It is a family restaurant, and he expects to put in a train for kids to ride and a swing set for kids to have something to do.

“It will be a very nice first-class restaurant,” he said.

Terry said the restaurant is in his district.

“You have to meet certain criteria,” he said.

Stone explained under current ABC law, liquor cannot be sold in the county without a resort status. Beer and wine can be sold.

Stone said the Senatobia Country Club obtained resort status. He said under the current law, the board of supervisors would have to create the resort status in the county.

Terry asked to table the request until the next meeting because board attorney Kent Smith was absent.

The matter was tabled.

Water tank

Justin Hall, executive director of the Marshall County Industrial Develop­ment Au­­tho- ­ri­ty, discussed a grant from the Mississippi Department of Transpor­tation and the Appalachian Regional Commission. Funds would be used for installing a water tank to supply potable water for residents and serve as a back-up water supply for fire protection in Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park.

The tank will store 150,000 gallons of water and also help supply water for the new Niagra plant.

Hall said some wording needs to be tweaked by the board attorney before the board of supervisors sign off on the project. He asked the board to approve the project, pending an OK by Smith on the language.

The board approved the project for signature, pending some minor changes in wording.