Residents press Pine Bluff for more dump days and help clearing vacant lots; council points to county coordination

Residents and community volunteers told the Pine Bluff City Council on July 20 that illegal dumping, tire accumulation and overgrown vacant lots are harming neighborhood quality of life and asked city leaders for clearer disposal options, more frequent dump days and support for community gardening.

Shay Armstrong, speaking for the Compass Rose Club, described volunteers' efforts to convert cleaned lots into community gardens and said the group is accumulating difficult-to-dispose items: "We've literally started cleaning up a couple of lots on the North Side on Havas, and we're gonna turn it into a community garden," she said, adding that tires and mattresses are common and hard to move.

The mayor and council members urged volunteers to document sites for city crews, noted the city's code-enforcement representative is part of the urban-agriculture task force and said the county is cooperating on tire disposal. The mayor told the meeting: "The 1st Saturday of August, we will resume the free dump day." City staff said a mechanical issue forced the July cancellation and that the county judge has offered road-department resources for future efforts.

During non-agenda public comment, Reverend James Hill described long-neglected ditches, uncut alleys and blocked drainage in north-side neighborhoods and urged creative uses of manpower and equipment, including partnerships and supervised youth crews. "I'm the gatekeeper of the North Side," Reverend Hill said, urging the city and partners to prioritize cleanup and maintenance.

Council members said they will continue working with the county and community groups, plan to publicize any change in tire-disposal options, and expect to announce a larger, partnered cleanup day in October.