MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Problems with blight and illegal dumping continue to plague Shelby County, hampering growth in the affected neighborhoods.
After living in Frayser almost 40 years, Karen King said the problem is only getting worse. She and others said the area around Point Church Rd. is one of the worst spots, with regular efforts made to clean up garbage, only for it to come back.
“I don’t want to live in a dumpster,” she said. “Frayser is not a dumping site.”
But new efforts are underway by both the city and county to clean things up.
Tuesday, the City of Memphis launched a new joint initiative between the Department of Public Works, the Memphis Police Department and other offices.
A team that includes residential, commercial and environmental inspectors, ground crews, solid waste and other services will spend a week in areas with high levels of crime and high volumes of calls to code enforcement.
“It's a combination of all these resources being put into a geographic area at one time and systematically working to sweep as much of that area as we can before we move to another area,” said Public Works Director Robert Knecht.
In an even more targeted plan, Shelby County Commissioner Charlie Caswell has partnered with the re-entry group Lifeline to Success to create a Blight Patrol that people in District 6 (especially in Raleigh, Nutbush and the northern area of unincorporated Shelby County) can text pictures and the address of where they found the garbage to 901-589-0689 and Lifeline will pick it up after notifying the city or county.
“If it’s something that’s been out there for weeks or even months, we tell them to go ahead and tackle that situation,” Commissioner Caswell said.
King said she likes what she hears from both agencies.
“I think that would be better if you could immediately call or text someone, and within a few days someone is out there picking up their trash," she said.
Memphis Public Works said they're currently working in the area around MPD’s Mount Moriah precinct and plan to move on to MPD's Ridgeway and Raines precinct after that.
Knecht said they will then evaluate their progress to see if they will continue or expand the initiative.
Commissioner Caswell said he has already had talks with members of Memphis City Council about establishing more blight patrol teams.