The Leflore County Board of Supervisors voted Thursday to allow the county to help with cleanup at the Sky Lake Wildlife Management Area.
The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks requested the assistance in a letter to the board. The board’s 3-1 vote is subject to an opinion from the attorney general on the legality of doing county work on state property.
District 3 Supervisor Preston Ratliff cast the sole dissenting vote, and District 2 Supervisor Robert Moore abstained.
“A lot of cleanup needs to be done,” said District 5 Supervisor Robert Collins, whose district includes the wildlife area. “They provide 40,000 acres for hunters, and if we are able to help out on state property, we could use money from the roadside dump grant.”
In the letter, a Department of Wildlife official said a significant amount of trash and appliances have accumulated along Otter Lake Road and Lakeside Road.
“Somebody comes along and dumps something, and the next thing you know everyone is using it to drop their trash,” Collins said. “It needs to be cleaned up before it’s too much to handle.”
Ratliff said after the meeting that he had concerns about helping with the work.
“It just seems to me we make a tremendous effort for agencies that could help themselves,” he said. “When people came to us and asked for help, we worried about going onto private property. We demand citizens clean up the dumps on their property, but when the state comes to us we bend over backwards for them.”
At their last meeting, the supervisors voted on a waiver of $226.60 per month and $3,400 in back payments for solid waste services for the restitution center. Ratliff cited that vote as another example of helping those who should be able to help themselves.
“We get money from the state and turn around and give it right back to them,” Ratliff said.
He said he was not familiar with the Sky Lake site and was concerned less about the specific issue than about the inconsistent practices of the board.
“If we worked as hard for the people who need help as we do for the state, we wouldn’t have any complaints about the county,” Ratliff said. “We don’t help people that need it as much as those who don’t, and I just don’t see life that way.”
Also on Monday:
- The board approved Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams request to continue the pursuit of a $2.5 million health grant.
- The board approved a request for $5,000 to be used for the Roy Martin Delta Band Festival.
