POPLARVILLE — The Poplarville Board of Aldermen adopted an ordinance addressing garage sales, as well as resolutions to recognize the month of January as Human Trafficking Month and support for the Citizens for Economic Awareness Act at their meeting on Tuesday.

All Aldermen were present for the meeting, at which the long debated Garage Sale ordinance was approved. This limits garage sales in the city limits for individuals or groups to not more than three sales a year, for not more than three days with a minimum of 120-days-apart. Permits must be issued before the sale can be held.

A Proclamation for January 2014 to be recognized as Human Trafficking Awareness month was proposed by Alderman Shirley Wiltshire and passed by the board. The proclamation was prompted through Advocates for Freedom, a human trafficking awareness group.

Wiltshire staid she has worked with the group for three years and research shows that 2014 will be the year that human trafficking will out-earn illegal drug activity in profit. She said that just because Poplarville is not as big as Jackson does not mean that people can sit back and think that human trafficking will not affect them in some way. She referred to the recent abduction of two Pearl River County boys and said that child crime and abduction can happen anywhere and citizens must be on alert.

A resolution for Mississippi Municipal League’s Economic Awareness Act also passed to allow city residents to vote on a tax increase of not more than one percent to be earmarked for city infrastructure and capital improvements. The resolution will be forwarded on to state.

Anti-litter ordinances were addressed and will be modified in the future to cover situations that cleanup ordinances currently do not cover.

The aldermen also discussed leaves and limbs pickup within the city. Aldermen Wiltshire, Smith and Pearson had researched rules for pickup and advised that leaves and limbs are not to be placed in bags. At one time, they could be placed in bags, but people were mixing trash with the leaves so it had to be stopped.

Leaves and limbs are to be placed on curbs by the right of way and apart from any fire hydrant or meter. The maximum length for limbs is 10 feet and if they are more than 12 inches in diameter, a site visit must be made prior to pickup.

It is illegal to blow leaves or trash into the street.

Mayor Brad Necaise acknowledged the rules and protocols concerning leaves and trash have chanced, but with the clarifications he believes that everyone could be on the same page.

Other matters discussed were: End of year recognitions for officers, cemetery services bids and Poplarville Historical Preservation Society use of 101 North Main Street among other matters.

The board entered into executive session to discuss city matters and personnel issues.