South Fulton council presses city manager on litter, street sweeping and park-ranger rollout

South Fulton City Council members pressed city staff on Feb. 11 over persistent litter, illegal dumping and whether the city’s current cleanup cadence is sufficient as traffic picks up in spring.

City Manager Sharon d Subbanan told council the city now does weekly litter pickup on main corridors and biweekly leaf collection; minor arterials and neighborhood cleanups still rely on resident reports. “We’re planning to launch a cleaning campaign in the spring,” Subbanan said, adding the campaign will combine education and enforcement.

Why it matters: Council members said they keep seeing trash on major roads such as Camp Creek Parkway and Fulton Industrial Boulevard and want the city to consider higher-frequency cleanup or more staff. Councilwoman Helen Z. Willis and others asked whether the city should revive a paid “green team” or other programs to provide predictable, proactive neighborhood service rather than only responding to reports.

Subbanan and staff outlined current steps and constraints. She said public works coordinates weekly corridor pickups with Georgia Department of Transportation and that the city has added smaller sweepers to allow spot cleaning. Subbanan told council the weekly pickup was an increase authorized in the current budget and that moving to a higher frequency would be a policy and cost decision for council: “If we need to go to a higher frequency, it’s just a matter of the cost. And so that’s a policy decision we can bring forward,” she said.

Council members asked for an estimate of the additional cost to increase frequency on four major corridors; Councilman JC Sebastian and Councilwoman Natasha Williams Brown asked for a short report showing options and dollar figures. Subbanan said staff will return with numbers and recommended targets. She also confirmed the city budgets about $1,300,000 on litter removal contracts and related services this fiscal year.

Other related items discussed: - Park-ranger program: Subbanan said the city intends to expand the park-ranger program “across all parks that we have” and will report back with how many positions are filled. - Illegal signage and enforcement: Subbanan said code enforcement is notifying sign owners, removing illegal signs and escalating persistent cases to municipal court; Councilwoman Carmelita Gumbs praised recent removals (reported as 425 signs in one month in the manager’s report). - Adopt-a-Road and community education: Several members urged a spring education push in schools and renewed outreach to faith and neighborhood groups. Councilmembers suggested more visible city signage, pressure-washing requirements for shopping centers and stronger code follow-up for chronic commercial dumping.

What’s next: Staff will prepare a short report with cost estimates to increase litter pickup and street-sweeping frequency on the four corridors council members flagged, and will return with details on the park-ranger rollout and the adopt-a-road program.