Debris piled up near a park in Sidon includes pieces of wood with nails sticking out.
Mayor Johnnie Mae Neal says it’s a hazard to children and is asking the Leflore County Board of Supervisors for help.
The county promised its assistance cleaning up once the Sidon Board of Aldermen votes to advertise it as a dilapidated property.
The litter, which is on private property on East Railroad Avenue, is left over from a tornado that struck Sidon on April 27, 2011.
Sidon was declared a disaster area following the storm. That allowed county crews to come onto private property to clear off trees and other debris.
The county didn’t leave the debris piled up like it is now; that happened later.
Neal said the property owners told her they hired someone to clean up the property, but the person took what was salvageable and left the rest sitting there. She said the property owners said they don’t have the resources to dispose of the remains.
Neal appeared before the board Monday to make her request, showing pictures to the board of several dilapidated properties. She said two of them are related to the tornado; others are not.
Board Attorney Joyce Chiles said she had concerns about the timeliness of the claims relative to the storm.
Jerry Smith, the county’s road manager and a Sidon alderman, said he compiled a list of homes damaged after the tornado and filed it with T.W. Cooper, the county’s emergency management director.
Supervisor Phil Wolfe said he had heard of a federal urban blight grant that Sidon may be able to get.
• Contact Charlie Smith at 581-7235 or csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
