North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield said he’s going to take another shot at stopping a few people from causing a big problem.

&#8220I have areas where people are just blatant with illegal dumping,” said Mayfield, a veteran county supervisor who took municipal office in July.

Mayfield said he will first talk with Vicksburg Police Chief Tommy Moffett and Vicksburg Code Enforcement Court Judge J. Mack Varner about it.

&#8220The saddest thing for me as a public official is 85 percent of what people dump would be picked up by our contractor,” he said. &#8220All they have to do is make a phone call, and it will be picked up.”

The number is 601-636-3411, the city’s Hot Line. It triggers a response from Waste Management Inc., which has an expanded agreement with the city to be paid for picking up refuse of almost any type including bedding, small appliances, tires, broken toys – the variety Mayfield said a few residents are tossing down hillsides or leaving at dead ends.

&#8220If they haven’t picked it up in a reasonable time, call back,” Mayfield said.

Construction waste won’t be picked up, such as roofing shingles, nor will trees cut down by a contractor. Almost anything else will be for the same monthly charge billed to all city residents.

Mayfield said the illegal dumping is happening at night.

&#8220I even have it near where I live off Sky Farm Avenue,” Mayfield said.

Mayfield said the areas of Vicksburg that seem to attract the most illegal dumping are what most people consider occupied by people of low to moderate incomes.

Some of the more common areas, Mayfield said, were along Martin Luther King Boulevard and on the west side of the Kings community.

&#8220We are going to do something to get this under control because the citizens are getting very upset about it,” Mayfield said, adding he is getting more calls now that he’s a city official even though there may be more illegal dumping in the county.

The problem with enforcing the anti-littering laws is catching the person actually dumping something where it should not be, Mayfield said.

Mayfield said the city may also have to resort to what Warren County Environmental Officer Kelly Worthy did several years ago. He placed automatic cameras near some of the more popular illegal dumping sites in the county.

&#8220I think he caught one or two of them,” Mayfield said.

If the city is successful in bringing an illegal dumper to court, the case is heard in Vicksburg’s code enforcement court where Varner is the judge, said City Prosecutor Bobby Robinson.

Robinson said Varner can impose a fine of up to $1,000.

Mayor Laurence Leyens and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman agreed there is a problem.

&#8220I just can’t wait until they catch someone at it because we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” Leyens said.

To his knowledge, Leyens said some of the most popular illegal dumping sites are places with &#8220No Dumping” signs and on dead-end streets.

Beauman said he has not gotten as many reports of illegal dumping as Mayfield, but also pointed out a wrinkle in the littering laws.

&#8220As far as the Department of Environmental Quality and Environmental Protection Agency are concerned, the person who owns the property where the illegal dump is located is legally liable for cleaning it up, even if he is not responsible,” Beauman said.