Councilmen getting support for cleanup initiative

Last fall, before taking office, Blytheville City Councilmen John Musgraves and Stan Parks began thinking of ways to clean up the city.

"We decided to go through the churches because that's the foundation of our community," Parks said. "By meeting with the area pastors and bringing them together, we now have 41 churches that want to be a part of this."

"The response is overwhelming," he added. "We still have others to meet with. We're working out the details, the guidelines of what we would like to do."

The two new City Council members plan to begin the first phase of an eight-week program on Sept. 10.

Parks said they are focusing on the high-crime areas, using Blytheville Police Department data to decide where to start.

Musgraves said the cleanup effort will be for four hours on Saturdays.

"We hope to get a duel impact by cleaning up the city and reducing crime in those areas," Parks said. "If people would keep their shrubs cut below their windows and their trees trimmed to where they are 6 to 7 feet above the ground it cuts down on the criminal element being able to hide in there and break into the homes when the homeowners leave. I've talked to people who used to be on the other side of the law, in trouble, and they have told me they would hide in the weeds or alleyways, in the high grass. The homeowner leaves and they go in a house and rob them. If they needed to, they would hide the stuff in the weeds and come back that night and get the merchandise."

Musgraves said he hopes the program "gets the ball rolling" and gives folks an incentive to take care of their properties.

"We've got to give them back self worth," he said. "We're not going to let these other elements come in and take over them. Now we're going all join together, and we're going to take our city back. And we're going to do it a little bit at a time. It's not going to be done overnight. But we're going to start somewhere."

Parks agreed, saying they need to restore pride in the neighborhoods, increase property values and encourage neighbors to look out for one another.

"We've all got to be committed to what we're doing," Musgraves said. "This is going to be a community effort. It's not just going to be an effort of one or two people. It's going to take the whole community. And this thing is going to be like chopping cotton. We're going to come back season after season to make sure we get this thing done and we do it right, so that it will be a positive impact on everybody."

Parks noted the second phase is getting the Master Gardeners and Mississippi County EOC involved in beautification projects.

"As we begin phase two we will probably continue phase one in a different area," he said.

"We're working for a cleaner, safer Blytheville," Parks added. "We need to all come together for this. And let's make it happen!"

mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com