Eutaw Mayor Raymond Steele wants his city to look as good as it possibly can for visitors. However, in order to do this he said the city needs new equipment and the cooperation of local citizens.

Steele said there are a couple of purchases that need to be made to help the overall appearance of Eutaw.

“There are two pieces of equipment that we really want to concentrate on for this year,” Steele said. “This year we really need to purchase a lawn mower to help maintain the cemetery. A new one could cost about $10,000.”

Steele said the second purchase would be for larger tasks.

“The other piece of equipment we want to purchase is a tractor from the State Department of Transportation to try to make sure we maintain our grass cutting,” Steele said. “We had a little bit of a problem with maintaining it last year and we think we should be able to maintain it with another tractor.”

The city plans to take bids for the new mower and tractor, which could cost about $15,000.

Steele said the purchases would be expensive, but were necessary. Steele said there were neglected areas that must be addressed.

“We have sewer lines we have to cut and that’s what we are concentrating on,” Steele said. “We have four lines that we have not been able to keep up and that is the primary region we are concentrating on.”

Council member Lewis Bostick said it might be possible to pay a little more and get a new tractor. Bostick said it could prove to be a wise investment in the long run.

“I would encourage you to call around. For $5,000 more we may be able to get a new 65 horsepower tractor,” Bostick said. “It may be worth that to look into it and bring it back before the council before we spend $15,000 on something from the Department of Transportation.”

Steele said he would entertain all options and bring them before the council for a vote.

The other area of improvement Steele was concerned with was litter in the area. Steele said he had noticed more and more trash in areas and would like to see something done about it.

“I just want to let everybody know we have gotten some people out there to get up as much litter as we possibly can,” Steele said. “We will continue to do that to maintain our city.”

Steele said they also plan to look into property that improperly stores immobile cars and other eyesores.