Progress has been made in establishing Keep Mendenhall Beautiful and Keep Magee Beautiful organizations as affiliates of Keep America Beautiful.
Last November the Mendenhall Mayor and Board of Aldermen discussed establishing a new organization called Keep Mendenhall Beautiful. The benefits of the program mirror those of the already established Keep Simpson County Beautiful.
The board unanimously approved the city to proceed with the process of establishing Keep Mendenhall Beautiful during the December meeting.
Keep Simpson County Beautiful president Evelyn Copeland has been hands on with establishing both Keep Mendenhall Beautiful and Keep Magee Beautiful.
Copeland said that the Board of Aldermen approved a proclamation to begin the affiliation process with Keep America Beautiful. Mississippi currently has 38 affiliates of Keep America Beautiful. Copeland explained that two additional municipalities are attempting to become affiliates along with Mendenhall and Magee.
She admitted that this would not be an easy process. Following the acceptance of the proclamation by the aldermen a committee of citizens interested in the organization was formed.
Copeland explained that representatives from Keep America Beautiful previously traveled to Simpson County to explain the required steps to become an affiliate. One of those steps states that each city must designate at least five areas to show improved litter control. These areas will act as a control group and will be used to measure improvement.
The Mendenhall organization recently established their litter index. Copeland said, “It’s really just a look to see how much litter was on the ground.” The certification process calls for five sites, but Evelyn explained that the committee mapped out 10 locations to serve as the control group. The control group is analyzed and the city establishes a litter index.
Committee members responsible for establishing the litter index included Shannon Welch, Steven Ammann, Martha Stubbs, Evelyn Copeland, Melissa Caughman and Brenda Booth. Copeland revealed that the Mendenhall areas registered as a 2 on the litter index.
Copeland said, “It means we have some litter but it wouldn’t take much time to clean it up.”
This reading will serve as a baseline and in one year the same areas will be evaluated again. This information will be used to help establish programs in the community to assist with litter control. The 10 areas that were evaluated included Main Street, Green Avenue, Highway 13, Simpson County Technical Center, and others. The areas were approximately half a mile each.
“We were riding and having fun talking about garbage,” said Copeland.
The City of Magee is also establishing the same baseline with Keep Magee Beautiful.
Copeland previously explained that several other benchmarks must be met by the committee before becoming an affiliate.
There is an initial fee of $1,500 followed by an annual $100 membership fee. Copeland explained that the $1,500 fee would be paid for the upstart organizations by the larger Keep Mississippi Beautiful. Copeland said that the application process takes months and she expected the process to be complete in February.
The representatives of Keep America Beautiful will return and check the completion of all tasks to determine if the municipalities will became certified affiliates. Once affiliation is achieved, the Board of Aldermen would then have to put a board of directors in place, which would begin planning projects. Copeland revealed that once the programs are established Keep Simpson County Beautiful will be giving them “seed money” to purchase supplies and get started.
Copeland explained that the idea behind establishing the two smaller organizations coincides with participation. She said, “With it being a smaller group of people there are people who have more of a commitment to that area.”
Copeland praised the committees established in both cities. She said that Martha Stubbs is heading up the committee in Mendenhall and LauraLyn Barr in Magee. Keep Simpson County Beautiful will continue to be operational and serve the Braxton, Harrisville, and Pinola communities.
“I think it’s going to be exciting,” said Copeland. She said, “We’ve been very fortunate to get good grants and we’ve done some great projects. We are hoping to continue the work. Sustainability is the key.”
Mendenhall is currently doing their final evaluation and leaders expect to be certified on February 1.
