I am writing this letter in hopes that the County and the City of Fairfield will read this and take action. Sadly, we have just spent an hour of a beautiful, sunny afternoon filling two 30 gallon bags of trash from in front of our farm along E. Highway 84 (Turlington).

Amongst the treasures were McDonald’s happy meal containers, energy drinks, Dr. Pepper bottles, cigarette boxes, Chili’s cups, Big Gulps, Muscle Milk, Instrument Housing boxes from a company named Limatherm, hazardous conduit sealing and a buyer’s guide warranty for a 2008 Ford Pickup Dealer stock number A30167, Vin number 1FTXW43R18EA30167 (if it’s yours, you can find it at the dump).

I also collected heavy cardboard boxes, some kind of tubing and lots of beer boxes, beer bottles and beer cans (not very dry, for a dry town).

I have yet to go out in our pastures that line the road and pick up the plastic gallon water jugs, feed sacks, plastic bags and other flying debris that could choke our livestock.

When I moved here almost two years ago, I was always quick to comment how clean Fairfield was, and how nice the highways were kept. I’m not sure what has happened in the last two years. Did the County and City of Fairfield stop caring? Is it just litterbugs who throw everything out their car window, and teach their children to do the same?

Is it joy riders and closet drinkers riding the roads? Or, is it the influx of transient oil and gas, logging and mining workers? A great example is Antioch, which was once pristine, but recent logging and mining activity has created mounds of trash along FM 1364. Take a drive, go see for yourself.

Really, I encourage the County commissioners and city officials to do so.

And do you think that the trash only affects the outer limits of the city? Take a look again. You will see trash along the mayor’s house near the RV park, out by the State park, across from Fairfield High School and the city park and even along E. Main by the museum and sheriff’s office. This is an epidemic.

It really is TIME to CLEAN up our city and our county. Put the FAIR back in Fairfield.
Sincerely,
Sandy Bates Bell