The issue of litter in Brookhaven and Lincoln County is one thatseveral officials say has been an ongoing problem, and they’restill searching for a way to correct the issue.

Keep Lincoln County Beautiful committee member Homer Richardsonsaid one of the first things his organization did when it wasfounded a little over 10 years ago is have an ordinance draftedagainst littering not only in the city, but also in the county. Hesaid even with the efforts of Brookhaven Police and the LincolnCounty Sheriff’s Departments, still the problem lies in quellingthe urge of the litterbugs.

Because of the boom in scrap metal prices, officials say canshave ceased to spot up the landscape. Other discarded items,though, are still evident.

“With the plastic and paper things, there’s no incentive to turnthem in or keep them or anything else,” Richardson said. “I runacross them so often where they’ve used them as spit bottles. Notonly is it litter but it’s gross.”

The litter issue has been constant and even chronic, but cityaldermen are discussing ways to remind Brookhaven residents to finda garbage can or recycling bin with their trash.

“I don’t know how to raise people’s awareness, because not onlydoes it have an impact on our city’s appearance, but also the costof manpower,” said Ward Four Alderwoman Shirley Estes. “Preventionis the main thing. I am really frustrated when I ride through myward – or through other areas in the city – and see so muchdebris.”

Brookhaven Police Chief Pap Henderson said he and his officersare constantly on the lookout for litterbugs, but the drawback isactually tying an offender to a piece of trash.

“The hardest thing is to catch and prove who’s doing it,” hesaid. “You know people are not going to throw litter out the windowwhen there’s a police car behind or beside them or within theirline of sight.”

Ward One Alderman Dorsey Cameron said the issue of litter is onhis radar not only because of the aesthetic deterioration inheavily littered areas, but also because of what it says about theattitude of city residents.

“You know when streets are full of paper it signals to theneighborhood that you’re not taking pride, and when your streetsare clean, it signals that you’re proud,” he said. “We’ve got tostay on litter because it’s a constant thing.”

Meanwhile, Brookhaven and Lincoln County are gettingprogressively better at picking up the trash. While there’s still away to go, Richardson said there has been a lot of progress sinceKeep Lincoln County Beautiful started its crusade.

“We’ve seen a fairly significant decline in the amount oflitter,” he said. “We go and review 90 different areas around thecounty every November, then compute whether our progress is gettingbetter or worse.

“Generally the trend has been improving over this period oftime,” he continued. “But you still can’t help but notice whensomeone has dumped out a whole bag of fast food debris and it hasscattered down Natchez Avenue.”

Estes told Mayor Bob Massengill and the board of aldermen thatshe’d like to see “No littering” signs put in strategic places inher ward. Other aldermen concurred that signs would be a goodidea.

Still, she and the others have some misgivings about having toresort to signs when people should probably know better than tothrow trash on the side of the roads.

“My big concern about the signs is that the more signs you putup, the more signs themselves can become an obstruction and aproblem with too much signage,” she said.

Like Cameron, Richardson said the most important reason forconsumers to hold trash for a garbage can is the way the roadsideview can affect a visitor’s impression of the city.

“The first impression people get is what’s on the road when theycome in, and if it’s trashy and dirty, that affects theirimpression,” Richardson said. “If you’re looking to bring abusiness or a family into the area, when you first arrive, what yousee on the roadside and people you meet at local restaurants willprobably give you 50 percent of the impression you’re going to havebefore you even explore the town.”