The general appearance of two areas of the city took center stage during the public comment portion of the McCaysville City Council meeting Tuesday, April 13, at city hall.
Rita Suiter was on the agenda asking to address the dumpsters sitting on Bridge Street and the general appearance of the Toccoa River Park.
Suiter began by telling the council the Toccoa park is “one of the best parks that I’ve ever seen,” but she was concerned about several “cleanliness things” that were unattended.
She then addressed the need for power washing the building and picnic tables, picking up debris, the need for a general cleaning, and trash being left unattended.
Councilwoman Sue Beaver told Suiter, “We have someone who’s supposed to be keeping the park clean.”
To that, Mayor Thomas Seabolt and Councilman Larry Collis responded that the street department is short-handed.
Collis said the street department is supposed to have three people, but currently only has one.
Seabolt said more attention would be paid to the park as workers and time become available.
City Attorney Courtney Stuart had an idea that people fined in city court, and who could not pay those fines, could be sentenced to do community service cleaning up the park. Police Chief Mike Earley said a community clean up day at the park might be a possibility if citizens were interested.
As to the dumpster and two oil collection bins on Bridge Street, Seabolt said, “I’m the one who told them to put it where it is.” All three are located in a partially marked handicapped parking space at the corner of Bridge Street and West Market Street.
All three service the restaurants in Riverwalk Shops, Burra Burra on the River, Twisted Tomato, and Happy Bear. Karen Hawkins, who manages the restaurants, was present and told the council members, “I’ve been aggressively working on the dumpster situation for weeks,” and noted the restaurants can produce a lot of garbage. She said she had substantial difficulty in contacting the company who provides the service.
She admitted to the garbage dumpster overflowing on a recent morning, and other businesses owners in Riverwalk working to clean it up before the restaurants opened. She also said a mistake by a new employee resulted in some used oil overflowing from one of the collection bins.
She said all three will be moved onto private property across the street within a week and a half.