Photo courtesy of Casey Morris.
Chelsea Councilman Casey Morris and city GIS coordinator Gerri Roberts show off their “Keep Chelsea Beautiful” bags.
The city of Chelsea will host its first Community Clean Up Day May 6.
The event comes in response to social media posts about trash on the sides of the road in and around the city, and it will work in conjunction with the “Love Loud Chelsea” project at Liberty Baptist Church, where life groups and youth groups get together to do service projects in the community.
City Councilman Casey Morris said he spoke with Leon Burdette, education/evangelism pastor at Liberty Baptist, and the two decided teaming up was a great idea. Burdette told him the members at Liberty would love to have the community involved in making Chelsea look better. The new leadership in Chelsea is also looking forward to being a part of this event.
“The great thing about our council and mayor is that we all are involved in everything,” Morris said. “Our public safety officer is in charge of the event and is keeping us up to date with everything going on with it. We are all four months in our terms and are trying to best serve our community and fulfill promises made as newly elected officials.”
The cleanup day will begin at 8 a.m. at City Hall. Supplies, including gloves and trash bags, will be provided. Vans from Liberty Baptist will transport groups to different areas around the city. Volunteers will get neon shirts to wear, so they can be visible on the sides of the road, and COP volunteers will be present in the areas where traffic is heavier. Morris said groups such as scouts and high school students needing service hours are welcome to volunteer.
The cleanup will last until noon, and all volunteers are invited to Liberty Baptist Church for a free hot dog and hamburger lunch.
Many Chelsea residents drive the same route every day, some more littered than others, but if there’s a specific area that needs attention, Morris said to let him know. Citizens can email him at cmorris@cityofchelsea.com, and he will try to make sure suggested areas receive attention that day.“We are going to try to focus on Highways 39, 47, 69 and 36, the suburban side of Chelsea where subdivisions are and where most of the traffic is,” Morris said.
Mayor Tony Picklesimer said this is the first event the city has had of this kind, and he is hoping for a great turnout get a lot done.
“I get lots of calls and emails about [litter] problem areas within the city,” he said. “I try to respond to every one of them in the appropriate way. If it’s on Highway 280, I work with ALDOT; if it’s county roads, I work with the county commission. Most of the streets we will be doing on this day are county roads, but they feed our subdivisions, so we have vested interest in it.”
Although some of the litter is thrown out on purpose, one of the complaints the city has been receiving is garbage truck gates are not closing completely, allowing trash to come out of the back of the chute. Residents are encouraged to bag all their trash and tie it up, and not just throw items in their cans.
While Saturdays are busy days for many families, Morris said he hopes that having it early in the morning will bring a good turnout. He suggested ages 7 and up for volunteering. If people need childcare for younger children, they should check with him, and he will try to make that available at Liberty. He said residents have been making individual efforts to do community cleanup, but he hopes this event will bring even more people together.
“We are in the process of getting the streets clean, but it won’t happen overnight,” he said. “We have to make a more conscious effort to make sure our city stays clean.”
