Supervisors hold workshop to discuss county wide garbage collection and zoning

WRJW News

The Pearl River County Board of Supervisors held a public workshop to begin the process of addressing two important issues that have long been deferred in the county:  County wide garbage collection and parcel zoning.

On the subject to garbage collections, Recently, Pearl River County received an email that stated “while the cities of Picayune and Poplarville maintain contracts with a waste collection contractor, neither of these requirement scenarios are being met by the governing body and, as such, MDEQ finds that Pearl River County does not currently comply with Mississippi Code Annotated Section § 17-17-5. As the County is also home to a Municipal Solid Waste Landfill (Central Landfill), MDEQ suggests that the governing body begin the process of contracting a service to properly comply with Mississippi Code Annotated Section § 17-17-5 and, upon completion, updating the submitted Section 4.1 and all related sections."

During yesterday's discussion, the board expressed it is hopeful to find a way to allow for the county to use existing private garbage collectors to meet the requirements from MDEQ.  The supervisors discussed how the process may include dividing the county up by geographic zones and putting each out for bids.  They are also trying to avoid any additional costs for the residents of the county.

County Administrator Adrain Lumpkin stated that Warren County, MS is currently using a similar model to accomplish this.  The board will have further meetings and gather more information from other counties in Mississippi before proceeding with any changes in the way the garbage collection will be implemented.

Also as part of the workshop, the supervisors opened the floor for discussion about the need for zoning in the county which will be to protect homeowners and parcel owners.   Tax Assessor & Collector Gary Beech confirmed for the board and those present that assessment of a property is not based on how the parcel is zoned, but the actual value of the property in line with state guidelines.

The board also heard comments from current developers, business owners, and others present that while no one really likes more government, they understand, and mostly agree, that the county needs to adopt zoning to prevent the value of properties dropping if someone decides to build something in the county that may not be desirable to those currently residing in that area.

The supervisors also express concerns on how certain developments are going up in the county where the owner is putting numerous dwellings on small parcels of land without any regard for parking, green space, access from emergency services when needed, and other environmental issues.  

The supervisors will look at getting more feedback from the residents and having an outside entity that has experience in implementing zoning to come present how the county might need to move forward.