During the last week, a series of articles in The Democrat has focused on the issue of &uot;curb appeal,&uot; or the appearance of city streets, buildings and lots, in Natchez.

But as interviews with officials on both sides of the river have shown, the issue is something both Natchez and surrounding towns are seeking to come to grips with.

Natchez

For Richard Burke, covering all the city’s public works bases is simply a matter of priorities &045; what he can get to and what citizens are willing to pay for.

Burke has said that, while his department would ideally have 25 people, he’s down to 19, in part due to the city’s tight budget.

His department was cut by five people this year, although temporary workers picked up some of those tasks. He is asking for three of those positions to be reinstated.

According to city figures, the public works budget will probably be down for fiscal 2003-2004 compared to this year.

Burke is asking for $1.9 million for all three divisions of public works &045; including items such as the city’s sanitation contract and vehicle garage &045; compared to $2.056 million budgeted this year.

That, Burke said, is enough to do basic public works tasks, but not enough for any extras. As he put it, &uot;We’re down to essential services.&uot;

Natchez’s Public Works Department is charged with:

4Maintaining almost all city infrastructure, such as streets and drainage. The city has about 100 miles of streets.

4Cutting grass on public rights-of-way &045; 250 acres of grass in all, including state rights-of-way, which are also cut by city crews.

4Performing sanitation tasks not covered by contract with Waste Management, including mosquito control and litter pickup.

&uot;Stuff that doesn’t get picked up by Waste Management (like too-large limbs), we’ve got to pick up and get it off the street,&uot; Burke said.

4Maintaining vehicles and other city equipment.

4Doing any heavy lifting tasks the city needs done. &uot;If City Hall needs furniture moved, they call us,&uot; Burke said.

&uot;If it involves putting calluses on your hands, we do it,&uot; he said.

But there are priorities. For instance, Burke said, anything that could potentially affect the health and safety of the public is priority one.

Therefore, a major pothole takes precedence over a stopped-up drain that is not flooding a street.

Having two crews of state inmates, plus people performing community service for municipal court, does help, Burke said.

&uot;But, for the most part, you’re not talking about skilled labor,&uot; Burke said. &uot;They mostly do litter pickup.&uot;

In short, Burke said, the people of Natchez have to decide what they want from public works &045; and what they’re willing to pay for curb appeal.

&uot;It’s all based on the level of services they want and what they’re willing to pay for,&uot; Burke said.

Vidalia

Ask what Vidalia’s secret is for staying so clean, and you get an answer that is perhaps surprising.

&uot;Actually, we’ve fallen down a little bit on that,&uot; Mayor Hyram Copeland said recently, referring to pipes that lay along some streets, ready to be placed in ditches as part of drainage improvement project.

This, despite the fact that five Cleanest City Awards &045; four district and one statewide award for towns of similar size, about 4,000 people &045; are lined up outside his office in the lobby of Town Hall.

&uot;When we get through with this drainage project, we plan to enter (the Cleanest City Contest) again,&uot; Copeland said.

Meanwhile, there are several things the city is doing to enhance its curb appeal, or overall appearance.

Perhaps the most recent is the passing, by the town’s Board of Aldermen, changes that put &uot;teeth&uot; into the town’s existing ordinances.

For instance, earlier this summer, aldermen voted to add to the town’s ordinance regarding overgrown grass a provision allowing the town to charge the cost to the property owner’s taxes.

The cost: $150 per hour, with a minimum of two hours. Under the ordinance, grass is considered overgrown if it’s more than 8 inches tall.

Property owners are first notified of the problems by certified letter. &uot;Ninety percent of the property owners keep their grass mowed. Of the other 10 percent, about 8 percent live out of town, and that’s what we have problems with,&uot; Copeland said.

In addition, as of Aug. 1, the city started placing warning stickers on unmovable &uot;junk&uot; cars in front of Vidalia properties. If a vehicle isn’t moved within 12 days of getting such a sticker, the town will pitch in &045; by towing the vehicle.

One program already in place is the practice of working three prisoner crews, four men to each crew, the town obtains through the Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The town already has equipment the prisoners can use. All the town has to do is designate an officer to supervise the crew &045; at a pay rate of $7 an hour.

&uot;So for $7 an hour, we can get the work of four people,&uot; Copeland said. Such crews do tasks such as grass cutting and drainage work.

But Copeland said what really makes the difference is citizen participation. Civic clubs, including the Vidalia Garden Club and the Vidalia Women’s Club, have taken an active role in keeping the town clean, he said.

&uot;The secret is the people,&uot; Copeland said. &uot;You have to have the support and willingness of the people to keep your city clean.&uot;

Ask Copeland what the importance is of keeping a town clean, and he’s the one that looks surprised.

&uot;If businesses come into your town, industrial prospects, people who want to move here, and see the grass grown up, that presents a bad image,&uot; Copeland said.

&uot;If we’re asking people to move here, and to move their businesses here,&uot; he said, &uot;it’s up to us to present a good image.&uot;