The city of West Point is concentrating on cleaning up, especially the Ga. 18 corridor, in preparation for Kia’s grand opening later this month.

Mayor Drew Ferguson IV said the city can’t wait for annual spring cleanup events, because the event is Feb. 26 at the plant.

“The world will descend upon us,” Ferguson told City Council at Thursday’s work session.

The city has worked in recent years, particularly since the announcement of Kia’s move to West Point in March 2006, to update its planning and zoning ordinances, particularly those affecting corridor routes Ga. 18 and U.S. 29. In the last year, the city has hired a part-time animal control officer and a full-time code enforcement officer. But Ferguson and others say the effort this month will be a “major push,” and he and city staff already have walked the Ga. 18 corridor, which leads to Interstate 85.

“To really clean up some of this, there’s going to have to be some monumental changes,” Ferguson said. “Most of it though is just doing the right thing. We’re asking people to do this voluntarily. Otherwise we will have to enforce the codes.”

Fines would be decided by a municipal judge, but Ferguson said the city wants to change residents’ mindsets, not just write tickets. Officials hope the efforts lead to the city looking good all the time, not just for major events, and the beautification will draw more residents to live in West Point.

“This is going to take us going out and knocking on doors,” said city planner Sammy Osborne.

Jennifer Shrader may be reached at jshrader@lagrangenews.com or at (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.