JONESBORO — In its regular meeting Monday, July 18, the Clayton County Board of Commissioners approved a $412,847 contract for beautification of landscaping and right of way services.
The contract is with two companies — Russell Landscape in Sugar Hill and Mariani Enterprises, doing business at Ed Castro Landscape in Lake Bluff, Ill.
The contract covers grasscutting, putting in trees and shrubbery, and picking up trash at all county buildings except for Parks and Recreation.
Clayton County Prison Warden Dennis Nelson said this contract now gives the county four full grass-cutting crews.
Commissioners also expressed concern about illegal trash dumping and littering throughout the county.
One of Commissioner Gail Hambrick’s suggestions was to have a small business from each district do clean-up.
Commissioner Felicia Franklin suggested having non-profit group Trees Atlanta and UGA come in and help make the county’s money go further.
“(Illegal dumping) is not fair to the businesses; it’s not fair to the residents,” Franklin.
She also said the county needs to be proactive about keeping its own property in good shape.
“We would have to be cited for how some of our own buildings look,” she said.
Commissioner Alieka Anderson said one of her concerns is businesses not wanting to come into the county because they see all the littering and the unkempt landscaping.
“That makes us look like we don’t have ourselves together,” she said.
County Commission Chair Jeff Turner said it’s not just a government issue but a community effort as well.
“This is a community, societal problem,” he said. “Yes, we have illegal dumping, but we also have a lot of littering.”
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