Cleaning up litter and illegal dumping is neither easy nor cheap, and the city of Meridian is hoping funds from two grants will help cover the costs of disposing of collected waste.

On Tuesday, the Meridian City Council approved requests from the city to apply for a waste tire grant and a household hazardous waste grant, both of which are administered through the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

Public Works Director David Hodge said the waste tire grant is aimed at helping the city get rid of old tires. City workers pick up old tires dumped along roads during litter removal and other projects on a regular basis, he said. The grant will pay for a dumpster to be stationed at the Meridian Public Works Complex where those tires can be collected, as well as the costs to hire a company to come get the tires and dispose of them properly.

Although the grant, which will pay up to $22,000 over two years, gives the city some avenues to get rid of old tires, the number of tires is more than the city can handle. Hodge said it is residents’ responsibility to properly dispose of their old tires when they are replaced. A disposal fee is typically charged for old tires, he said, and residents need to pay it.

“The people are responsible for turning in their tires when they get new tires,” he said.

Residents who see dumped tires can contact public works at 601-485-1920 to have them collected, Hodge said. Meridianites can also contact their City Council member, who can pass the message on through the appropriate channels.

The Household Hazardous Waste grant will also help the city get rid of old garbage as it helps fund the city’s Household Hazardous Waste Amnesty Day, which is held twice per year. The day is an opportunity for Meridian residents to throw out items that cannot be tossed with the regular garbage such as paint, solvents, car batteries and motor oil. Amnesty days are also another option for residents to responsibly dispose of old tires.

Community Development Director Craig Hitt said his department had only just learned the Household Hazardous Waste grant was available again and thanked the council for adding it to the agenda. The grant has a deadline of April 1 for applications, he said, so the city will need to move quickly to get its paperwork in order.

Once the grant is awarded, Hodge said the city can start looking at scheduling another amnesty day later on in the year.

Grand Avenue

In other business, the City Council inked an agreement with Engineering Plus to design a bridge replacement project along Grand Avenue. The city was awarded $2.6 million in August 2023 to fund the project through the state’s Emergency Road and Bridge Repair fund.

Hodge said Tuesday the Grand Avenue project was the third bridge the city has seen funded through the ERBR program. A bridge replacement currently underway on 34th Street over Gallagher Creek near Meridian Activity Center is also an ERBR funded project.

Once the design and engineering work is complete, Hodge said the Grand Avenue bridge will likely be closed for 12-15 months during the construction phase of the project. That window, he said, is a rough estimate and could be shorter or longer depending on weather and the availability of materials.

Meridian has also received a Transportation Alternatives Program grant to examine and improve pedestrian safety in the medical district. Hodge and Mayor Jimmie Smith have previously announced their intentions to look at pedestrian safety in and around Ochsner Rush Health and Baptist Anderson Regional Health System, where large numbers of patients need to cross busy streets.