After hearing the debate between property owners over who would be responsible for tornado debris cleanup in the area between Eastbrook Commons and Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church in Petal, several members of the Petal Jaycees have stepped up to stop that quarrel.
Jaycees Jonathan Crabtree, Miranda Williams and Kristie Brooks spent part of Friday beginning cleanup efforts at the area, picking up rubbish left over from the tornado that swept through Petal and east Hattiesburg in January 2017.
“One of my leadership mottos is ‘Be the change you want to see,’” said Crabtree, who spearheaded the effort after seeing a story about the debris in The Petal News. “In the article, it seemed (to ask) who’s going to clean up something, and I don’t believe picking up trash is above anybody.
“If you have the ability to respond, you have the responsibility to come here and clean it up. This was a natural disaster, and if I’m going to be a citizen here, I want to own it and take part in everything I can.”
The majority of the debris – which includes plastic, fiberglass and tin – is in a small tract of woods between the church and the shopping center. Petal Mayor Hal Marx said city officials had contacted owners of both properties to decide who would be in charge of the cleanup, but neither side could come to an agreement.
Marx said if a decision wasn’t reached soon, the city would clean the debris and then charge whoever was deemed responsible.
“In my mind, it’s not fair to charge the landowner (of the land) where the debris went to, because we’re pretty sure the debris was from the shopping center,” Marx said in an earlier story. “But the shopping center owner claims there’s no way for us to prove that was his debris.
“It just happens to look exactly like the kind of debris that was taken off the shopping center, and I think it’s pretty clear that it was from his shopping center.”
According to records from the Forrest County Tax Assessor’s office, several parcels of land butt up to the property where the debris is located. Those tracts are owned by several landowners, including Carl Burkett, Mount Vernon Missionary Baptist Church and Dennis Earl Rogers.
Eastbrook Commons owner Corey Brick did not return calls for comment.
“Jonathan is the one that brought it to our attention, and that’s what the Jaycees are – we’re active citizens that don’t just sit around and wait,” said Williams, who served as 2015 state president for the Mississippi Jaycees. “(It doesn’t matter) whose responsibility it is to clean it up.
“We talked to the church, and they said they didn’t have the money to clean it up, and the other (property owners) won’t help, so why can’t we go ahead and help them? So that’s what we did.”
Now that initial cleanup has started, the Jaycees plan to work out a time to come back with a bigger crew to handle the large debris items. Members of Mount Vernon Missionary Church and the Petal Police Department have agreed to help with the project, and Mount Vernon members even offered to lend heavy equipment after construction is complete on the tornado-damaged church.
“I’m sure that once we get the manpower up, it’s just going to be a matter of hauling stuff and putting it on top of trailers, and then getting it out of there,” Williams said.
Brooks said she’ll try her best to be among the Jaycees continuing cleanup.
“With the Petal Jaycees being a new organization, and with them starting new projects, it’ll really draw members,” she said. “So it was good to have something to get going.
“I’ll try to (come back) – it’ll just depend on my work schedule.”
Burkett, pastor at Mount Vernon Missionary Church, said he appreciates the efforts of the Jaycees.
“They’re a big help,” he said. “We’re underwater now (because of the tornado), and we’re trying to get back above water. So they’ve been a blessing.”
Ward 3 Alderman Clint Moore said he was glad to hear the Jaycees had taken the lead on the project.
“It’s awesome to see the Jaycees volunteering to help clean up this property,” he said. “It is exciting to see some young folks jump in and take a more active role in their community.”
