Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The Jefferson County Road Department is now equipped with two bright red four-wheelers to facilitate litter control along roadways. Commissioner J.T. Surles and Interim County Manager Ron Russo unveiled the new ATVs on Tuesday, April 14, with county employees Dustin McCoy, Kurt Register and Jon Sever.
“Jefferson County was kind of lagging behind in litter control,” Surles said as he stood by the new acquisitions along New Monticello Road. “We took a big step forward today on cleaning up our roads … We're just tickled to do this for our residents so they don't have to ride down and see litter.”
“The commissioners' instructions were that we've got to do better, we've got to clean up our roads,” said Russo, referring to a recent meeting of the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners. “We did it … with our existing resources and forces. Other than the new machines, we've built a program that has certified a select group of staff, and they will be out on patrol on various assigned roads on a regular basis moving forward.”
The county had been relying on an arrangement with the Florida Dept. of Corrections to provide manpower for local litter control, Surles explained, but the demand turned out to be too high for a consistent result with that program.
“Mr. Ron and his staff have put together something with these four-wheelers that is going to be consistent to keep the litter picked up,” Surles commented.
Shannon Metty reported that the two Honda Rancher utility vehicles were purchased from Ridezilla at a cost for both of $13,778, which was drawn from an equipment purchasing area of the road department budget.
Russo encourages residents to contact their commissioner if they see a littered area in the county that needs attention:
Jessica Gramling, Vice Chair, District 1, jgramling@jeffersoncountyfl.gov
Gene Hall, District 2, ghall@jeffersoncountyfl.gov
J. T. Surles, District 3, jtsurles@jeffersoncountyfl.gov
Austin Hosford, District 4, ahosford@jeffersoncountyfl.gov
Ben White, Chairman, District 5, bwhite@jeffersoncountyfl.gov.
IN THE FEATURED PHOTO: The road department now has a regular litter-patrol crew who'll be using these new Honda Ranchers to get the job done. Pictured left to right are Kurt Register, Ron Russo, J.T. Surles, Dustin McCoy and Jon Sever. ECB Publishing, Inc. Photo by Laura Young, April 14, 2026