Spring has now officially arrived and over the past few months, there has been a lot of discussion on the need to “clean up” the city and county, for upcoming tourists, and local residents alike.

Clinton County Fiscal Court, with funding via the Kentucky Litter Abatement program, will be offering all citizens an opportunity to help clean up county roadways and make the area cleaner and more attractive.

The annual clean-up, the first of two held each year, is being coordinated by Clinton County Solid Waste Coordinator Renea Wells, in conjunction with the Clinton County Judge/Executive’s office and Clinton County Fiscal Court.

The annual county-wide Spring Clean-Up in Clinton County is scheduled for Saturday, April 22. The program not only gives local residents the chance to show pride in a more beautiful county, but also gives non-profit groups the chance to earn money while doing so.

This year’s spring clean-up day of April 22 is also the annually designated “Earth Day.” (In the event of adverse weather, the Spring Clean-Up would be held the following Saturday, April 29.)

The clean-up will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and those groups (and individuals) participating will meet at the Clinton County Judge/Executive’s office at 7:30 a.m. that morning to be assigned the stretch of roadway they will be collecting trash on.

During that time, they will also be provided gloves, trash bags and other necessities.

“We encourage everyone to help us clean up our county,” said Judge/Executive Ricky Craig.

Any non-profit group or organization, including schools, churches, etc. can earn $100 per mile of roadway cleaned up.

For example, if a group wishes to attempt to clean two miles they can earn $200, all the way up to a cap of 10 miles for a $1,000, but a group must pick the number of miles they can actually collect.

Payment to the groups and organizations participating will not be immediate, however, as Litter Abatement processing and payment approval has to be completed. Each group will be notified when the funds are ready to be picked up for their efforts.

As of late last week, still a month prior to the actual clean-up day, approximately 10 organizations have already signed on to help in the effort.

Both Judge Craig and Administrative Assistant Kelly Abston noted each group will be assigned an area so as to let the (county) road department know where to pick up the bags that are collected.

They also noted the areas chosen would be off the blacktop (of the roads) and away from traffic as much as possible for safety reasons, noting that a lot of younger people also help during the roadside clean-up each spring and fall.

Although individual citizens, under Litter Abatement guidelines, cannot earn money, they can help in a lot of other ways, such as joining in with one of the organizations–including those with children working–to help keep them safe.

“We encourage everyone, including individuals, to pick up areas around their homes and property and also to come out and volunteer as this is a community effort,” said Judge Craig.

The judge also added the tourism season in the county would be underway soon, and he would like to make Clinton County look good for all the visitors who come to the area each season.

Craig noted the bigger event of the two clean-ups held each year comes in the fall season.

Last fall’s clean-up saw some 436 bags of trash picked up along county roadways.

In the Spring 2022 clean-up, 32 miles of county roadways were covered by volunteers, with 225 bags of trash collected. But, the judge foresees this year’s Spring event being an even bigger success, especially with the number of groups already volunteering.

More non-profit groups are welcome and always needed, and all community volunteers are always appreciated, the judge added.

Any non-profit group or organization interested in helping out with the April Spring Clean-up, or needing more information can call the judge’s office at 606-387-5234 or Solid Waste Coordinator Renea Wells at 606-328-0373.

Most of Albany and Clinton County’s roads are littered with trash that has been thrown from vehicles throughout the winters. A Spring Clean-Up event is set for Saturday, April 22.