Illegal dumpsite pops up behind East Albany church

(ALBANY, GA) – Pastor Cliff Hill left his church Thursday evening with the property looking pristine as always.

However, over the weekend, his church’s back alley became the latest illegal dumpsite in Albany.

Pastor Hill told us Monday afternoon, “It makes the church look bad when people are coming into the parking lot, coming to services. How can we tell them that we promote cleanness and you see this piling up in the alleyway all the time? So we want to get it clean, we want to straighten it out so this will stop.”

The Cornerstone Ministries isn’t new to illegal dumpsites around their property.

Albany Ward 1 Commissioner, Jon Howard says they’ve had to come out to inspect dumpsites that have been ruled as isolated incidents.

But the prevalence of this problem is a problem for the entire City of Albany.

“We’ve got to do a job of re-educating the community, the constituents, and neighbors and business owners in that when you do this, it creates an eyesore, not just for East Albany, but the entire city,” says Howard.

While Public Works will be about to assess the site on Tuesday, Pastor Hill says that church members are also trying to keep the alley clean.

But they’re also making sure that any kids walking through the alley aren’t in danger when walking through a dumpsite.

Hill tells us, “One reason we clean this alley is because a lot of the kids walk to school through this alley. So I want to keep this place safe and clean for them, cause we don’t want anything to happen to a child coming through this alley, when they get off the bus.”

Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful says that on average it costs the city at least $800 dollars to clean up an illegal dumpsite.