JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The City of Jacksonville conducted a massive cleanup on Friday of a homeless encampment that was settled on private property off Atlantic Boulevard.
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Al Ferraro, manager of Blight Initiatives with the City of Jacksonville, said a crew operating a dump truck equipped with a mechanical arm began to work since early Friday on cleaning up the encampment across the street from the Coggin Honda dealership and right next door to the Cypress Cove apartment complex.
According to Ferraro, the dump truck had to take multiple trips throughout the day to completely clear out the wooded area.
“It all starts off with one person coming in, bringing in some trash, and next thing you know, you’ve got tons and tons of trash,” Ferraro said. “It gets brought in a little bit at a time. They bring them in by bicycles. They bring them in little trailers. And we have everything from mattresses to little bits of paper. This is what we’re trying to stop throughout the city of Jacksonville.”
Ferraro said the city is trying to prevent these encampments from growing by detecting them early.
“Garbage collected in any area of town that’s piled up, it’s not good for anybody. It’s not good for the waterways and tributaries, for the river, for the air. So none of this is good,” Ferraro said.