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The Prince Edward County Board of Supervisors agreed to transfer $10,000 from the landfill budget Tuesday, April 13, to fund an initiative to tackle the issue of roadside litter.

County Administrator Doug Stanley outlined several different ways the funds will be used to provide manpower to make the situation better.

“We get lots of complaints, particularly on roads with our convenience sites and the landfill, and along major roads feeding the landfill, like (U.S.) 460,” Stanley said in a memo to the board.

The county already utilizes community service hours ordered by the Piedmont General District Court, but Stanley said that method has had mixed results.

“Some might work five hours and pick up a bag of trash. Others are picking up a couple of bags an hour,” Stanley said.

He plans to expand the program by utilizing inmates from the Piedmont Regional Jail. Currently, the jail is unable to send out work crews due to being understaffed and having to deal with COVID issues. When that changes, Prince Edward County will be able to utilize the inmate work crews along with the other counties who utilize the jail.

The county will also sign a contract with VDOT to utilize their contractors. VDOT currently has contractors pick up trash before mowing season begins, but the county does not want to wait until that occurs in May or June. The county will have the option to use VDOT’s private contractors if inmates are not available.

“We’ve got to try something,” Stanley said. “We’ve got to make some kind of effort to clean up the county.”

Supervisor Jerry Townsend abstained from the vote due to a potential conflict of interest. Townsend is the Superintendent of the Piedmont Regional Jail.