MACON, Ga. — In the second week of Macon-Bibb's "Clean Streets Matter" campaign, the county has cleaned up 40 illegal dumps and picked up over 150 tons of trash, including furniture and appliances.
Mayor Lester Miller says he's proud to see the community collectively take action, and he is now proposing another idea to put an end to these illegal dump sites before they're even started.
Samuel Hughes III lives near Roundfield Road, one of the many illegal dump sites Macon-Bibb County has cleaned up recently. 13 WMAZ was there when crews arrived at site where dozens of tires were piled at the end of the dead end road.
"The tires and stuff, it's awful. It's an awful situation," Hughes said.
But Hughes says what's even worse is when people just dump trash in the middle of the street in front of his and his mother's house.
"Foolish people who sometimes even throw bags of trash into the road," Hughes said.
He says it depreciates the values of homes in the area.
"It's even more than that. It depreciates the value of the community, and we are not going to stand for that," Hughes said.
The county says they're not standing for it either. Mayor Lester Miller wants to put a stop to illegal dumping, and one way of doing that, he says, is building "convenience centers."
"People are more likely to use a convenience center if it's nearby. What we wanted to do is strategically look at land across Bibb County that we can come up with about five that will be close enough to reasonably use it," Miller said.
Miller describes these centers as mini-transfer stations that will take your bulky items.
"It'll be your refrigerators, your couches, and things of that nature," Miller said.
He says people will be able to drop off their unwanted bulky items at clean, safe, secure, and legal locations. He says the plan is to bring a third party in to haul off the trash.
"Could be once a week, could be once a day, depending on traffic with a tonnage cost on us," Miller said.
Hughes says he's happy to hear the county is taking action.
"Anything is worth a try," Hughes said.
Mayor Miller says he hopes to have the first convenience center built in the next 90 days. Each will cost around $125,000 to $150,000 and take between 60 and 90 days to build.
Miller says they are pushing to open these centers while the county is getting closer and closer to closing the Walker Road landfill. He says it could be closed as early as the end of this year or early 2022.