Guidelines

I am one member of a five person board. The opinions I express on this forum are mine only, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Escambia County Staff, Administrators, Employees, or anyone else associated with Escambia County Florida. I am interested in establishing this blog as a means of additional transparency to the public, outreach to the community, and information dissemination to all who choose to look. Feedback is welcome, but because public participation is equally encouraged, appropriate language and decorum is mandatory. Although this is not my campaign site for re-election--sometimes campaign related information will be discussed, therefore in an abundance of caution I add the following :








Monday, January 16, 2023

Trash Dumped along 9-Mile Road--and other Area Roadways--Remains a Chronic Issue

I've been contacted by numerous constituents now about the trash lining the roadways on District 1.  Specific areas include the south side of 9-Mile Road from I-10 to Beulah Road, Mobile Hwy from Hwy 90 to Pine Forest Road, and Sorrento Road and Blue Angel Parkway in the southern portion of D1.

I have called the state's contractor via staff and my office numerous times about the issue--however the problem remains a chronic one.

Several local groups are now voluntarily going out and picking up trash along the roads adjacent to their subdivisions.  I have spoken with county administration and we will provide bags and rubbish "grabbers" for folks willing to do this.  Just contact my office at 850-595-4910 and I will get your contact information to the appropriate staff personnel who can provide these items.

But it is a sad commentary on our area that this continues to be a chronic problem.

I walked the southern side of 9-Mile road from Beulah Road to the I-10 onramp at exit 5.  What I saw was disgusting.  I filmed what I saw on a Facebook Live video along part of the route.  From an email I sent this morning to staff and the state's rubbish collection contractor, Ferrovial Services, this morning:

..on yesterday’s walk I saw full bags of garbage, more than 100 plastic bottles, fast food bags/cups, cardboard, pizza boxes, and beer/soda cans lining the south portion of the roadway by the sidewalk and in the culverts.  I also saw a couch and mattress dumped over the bridge to the banks of the 11 mile creek below.  Additionally—it appears as someone has also thrown large piece of wooden cabinet into the creek. (The north side of the road, directly adjacent to Navy Federal Credit Union’s campus, did not appear to have the same problem and looked clean.  I’m assuming they have their own crews cleaning their side?)

 So that I can be more well-equipped to handle constituent complaints and questions on this issue specifically going forward-can you let me know the following:

  1. How frequently your crews clean trash along 9-Mile Road, Mobile Highway, Blue Angel Parkway, and Sorrento Road? (primary D1 roadways the state maintains)
  2. Are you the appropriate person/entity to contact for this issue?
  3. Are the mowing crews also under your contract?  (I ask because I saw numerous examples of boxes/plastics/signs that appeared to have been “run over” by the mower instead of simply picked up.  This results in “confetti” of trash all over the area which looks even worse.)
  4. How soon can your teams of employees clean this area of 9-Mile road specifically?

 Sorry for the length of this email and the direct nature of it.  But what I saw yesterday was, to put it simply, appalling.  I know the state spent millions of dollars creating this four lane road and sidewalks—which the constituents I serve greatly appreciate.  I hate to see it in the state it is in currently"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It's awful on the Baars Bridge too. Not just trash but the weeds and growth are 6 feet tall, and make turning onto an already very busy road problematic. Such blight and negelct for a part of the county that generates much revenue. It's been unattended for so long that it's going to require a backhoe to get the growth out. I've asked before, but how do we ask for expedient attention to these matters?

Additionally, one of the key's power lines has been drooping into the middle of the road, on Gongora as soon as you arrive on the key, it comes close to hitting the tops of vans. It's been like that for months. The solution wasn't to tighten it, it was to wrap it in metal wire, creating two dropping areas. Now it's got an orange extension cord dangling from the power line in some sort of inexplicable stop-gap fix.

Know it's a different organization, but the incidence of neglect represents two sides of the same coin for the area. Half-assery. Most of the fixes on Sorrento are half-assery. Potholes fixed but the uneven payment that remains creates a renumerant problem.