Cleaning up Sumter together

Coming together:

CITY AND COUNTY CREATE JOINT INITIATIVE TO CLEAN SUMTER

BY SHELBIE GOULDING

The most common litter items can take the longest to decompose: 20 years for a plastic bag, 50 years for a tin can, 200 years for an aluminum can, 450 years for a plastic bottle and 1 million years for a glass bottle.

Litter not only affects a community by clogging waterways and storm drains, creating road hazards and decreasing property value, but it also affects the wellbeing of the people who live and drive through it.

Last year was a year to take charge in Sumter County. Both city and county governments began an initiative to clean up the community, one bag and volunteer at a time.

City of Sumter

The City of Sumter began its Litter Prevention initiative in August 2020. In that fi rst year, the city hired its fi rst litter offi cer, Glenn Button, and organized community clean-up days as well as other educational and hands-on programs.

The impact? A total of 108,980 pounds of trash was collected in 2021 compared to 7,000 pounds in 2020.

Sumter County Government

Last summer, county government offi cials implemented a 2-mill increase in its fi scal 2022 budget to fund its $318,000 litter program.

The money came after the community’s cry for a solution to the litter. Although it won’t necessarily solve the problem, it’s something that can mitigate the issue, thanks to volunteers, a litter rake machine, education pushes and enforcement measures; the program’s threelegged stool format focuses on cleanup, enforcement and education.

The rake machine, a tractor to pull it and a dump truck for the litter cost $350,000. Although it’s not a vacuum truck, it can collect litter from roadways and shoulders with the help of a county-employed crew.

The cleanup leg will consist of the machine,

equipment, litter techs, contract labor, public works, community days, inmate labor and grants. The county created fi ve new positions – two litter control offi cers, two Class I litter control operators and one Class II litter control operator.

The enforcement leg will include two litter offi cer positions, imposing court fi nes and court-mandated cleanup, using cameras and getting help from the Department of Natural Resources and the Sumter County Sheriff's Offi ce.

The fi nal leg, education, will also include the litter offi cers. They will use social media, agency media, printed material, editorials and grants to teach the public the effects of litter and promote the county’s efforts.

An impactful partnership

In July 2021, after months of collaboration, the joint city-county Litter Advisory Board met for the fi rst time with 11 members and two representatives from city and county government.

Ernest Frierson was elected to be the chairperson by public board members Barbara Richburg, Russell Branson, Beverly Davis, Scott Burkett and Joseph Brown Jr. Other board members are representatives of local and state organizations: Development Board appointee Erika Williams, Chamber of Commerce appointee Chris Hardy, SCDOT Sumter Offi ce appointee Sandra Riley, Sumter County Sheriff’s Offi ce appointee Joey Rogerson and Sumter Police Department appointee Robert Singleton.

Representing the city is Sumter City Councilman Steve Corley and City Manager Deron McCormick, while Sumter County Councilman Charles Edens and County Administrator Gary Mixon represent the county; all are ex-offi ciates who take what is discussed at the Litter Advisory Board meeting to their councils.

“We’re advisory on the side,” Corley said, “making little suggestions along the way. It takes time to get it going.”

Corley and Edens were elected to be board representatives because the duo has been fi ghting Sumter’s litter battle for nearly fi ve years with a group of concerned residents prior to the creation of the litter initiative and programs. At the Litter Advisory Board’s fi rst meeting, they encouraged members to get in the community and talk to, educate and inspire the public to get involved.

With the same initiative in 2022, the city will use its small vacuum truck from Jet-Vac Equipment Co., which cost $164,495. New community clean-up days are scheduled for 2022, occurring one Saturday every two months in partnership with Sumter County Government, the Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce, Palmetto Pride and the South Carolina Department of Transportation.

Corley said the public can expect more energy, more effort and more commitment in 2022, as well as more enforcement and ticketing measures.

“We’re not up to 30 miles an hour same room.”

Edens hopes to include education efforts in agencies across the county. For example, the county could work with Santee Wateree RTA and pay them to advertise bus signs promoting education on the litter issues, Edens said.

Another idea he’d like to see come to fruition is to incorporate fundraising clean ups with local nonprofi ts, groups and churches.

“It would be a great opportunity for them to incorporate another fundraising group,” Edens said. “And most of them, usually, take those funds and what they make from the fundraisers and do things for the community anyway, so it’d be turned around to the community, too.”

yet,” Corley said. “Now, I see a lot of momentum.”

SCDOT, the Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce, Sumter Economic Development, Sumter Board of Realtors, the Sumter School District … the list goes on as to who has gotten involved in the countywide mission, and Corley said the city plans to work ahead with SCDOT in 2022 to pick up litter off major roadways – like U.S. 378 – before they mow.

“For me, the big thing is coordination. Getting the various parties together,” he said. “Now you have main players in the

LEARN MORE:

For more information on the City of Sumter’s Litter Prevention initiative or to schedule a volunteer cleanup day, visit www. sumtersc.gov/litter or call (803) 305-5266.

Community clean-up days are scheduled for: - Feb. 19 - April 16 - June 18 - Aug. 20 - Oct. 15 - Dec. 17