It's still not too late, but if you love Mineral County and want to help guide a new effort to beautify it, you've got to act fast.
Today is the deadline for volunteers who wish to serve on the newly formed Litter Control Task Force.
Members of the task force will be appointed by the Mineral County Commissioners, and will assist the county in developing policies and programs aimed at improving the aesthetic quality of Mineral County.
Activities of the task force could include promoting existing programs like Adopt a Highway, seeking grant funds to strengthen litter control and enforcement efforts, and identifying illegal dumps. The group may also spearhead entirely new initiatives, while working to develop public education programs and promote activities like recycling.
No one likes the sight of an old rusted appliance dumped over a bank, tires in a stream bed, or cans lining a roadway. In addition to being health hazards, such refuse constitutes a blight not only on the countryside, but upon the people who call this county home, and would allow such eyesores to exist unchallenged.
The battle to control litter will never be won, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be fought. It must be fought so that we as a community are not defined by the individual who is too cheap or too lazy to properly dispose of used household items, or the person who tosses bottles and food wrappers from their car, without a thought as to how their refuse mars the natural beauty of our county.
Given the leadership of Mineral County Commissioner Wayne Spiggle, who has been instrumental in promoting litter control efforts, we're confident this new task force will be given the tools to do more than just plan and "strategize." We look to this group to lead Mineral County to a new awareness about our obligation as stewards of the environment, and to a brighter, cleaner future for our children who will inherit it.
The Mineral Commissioners ask that anyone interested in applying send a letter by 4 p.m. today. Letters can be dropped off at the county offices, 150 Armstrong St., Keyser, or they can be sent by email to: countycommission@mineralcountywv.com.
Only the passionate need apply.