MACON, Ga. — Overgrown bamboo is taking over some graves in Macon's Evergreen Cemetery, preventing some families from getting to their loved ones' graves.
Mike Glisson with Macon-Bibb County Parks and Beautification Department says each winter, they try to focus on cleaning up along the fence lines of cemeteries like Evergreen.
Bobby Atkinson, whose mother is buried there, says it doesn't seem like it's enough.
"Bamboo has taken over. It's been unmaintained. It's not been taken care of and kept up," he said. "You can't even see her grave."
He thought someone had stolen his mother's headstone when he came to visit last week. It was just hidden in the brush. Atkinson says he's talked with county leaders and it's been fixed a couple of times, but he says it's never consistent.
"We've had this conversation since '97. And we're out here again battling bamboo, battling overgrowth, battling trash. It's the same story every time," he said.
Glisson says they contract with small local landscapers to maintain the grass, but those landscapers are not responsible for cutting back overgrown bushes or trees. There is a provision in the county's contract with Paulk Landscaping for occasional maintenance at Evergreen, but they mainly handle Rose Hill Cemetery.
"This is clearly not being touched. Maybe they should be here more often," Atkinson said.
Glisson says they did know about the bamboo problem and were already working on trying to fix it. Now, he says it's at the top of the list and they're working with a contractor to get it done.
If you see a problem in a cemetery operated by Macon-Bibb County, you can file a See Click Fix report.