MOULTRIE — Residents of Southeast Moultrie were pleased with progress being made and asked city officials continue to make improvements at a meeting held Monday.

About 30 residents attended the meeting, held at the R.B. Wright Elementary School cafeteria. They were pleased to hear about all the city had done since the community meetings held in October and November but had questions and concerns that had not been addressed at those meetings.

City Public Works Director Danny Ward told the crowd the Public Works Department has done a lot with recycling. They have added a cardboard recycling bin at the Farmer’s Market on First Avenue Southeast, they offer metal recycling and give away wood chips at the Service Center. They have also been spraying to kill mosquitos in Southeast Moultrie and have been working to clean up the recreational facilities.

One way to help children in the community discussed at previous meetings was establishing a youth sports program in Moultrie. George Ray, however, suggested doing more than just a sports program to help meet all children’s interests.

“We should find out what children want and work in that direction,” Ray said.

Another resident asked about costs and location of the recreational opportunities being offered. She said she and lots of other parents would like to have their children involved but cannot afford it or are unable to get their kids to the fields in a timely manner.

The question of gangs came up at this meeting, and Moultrie Police Chief Frank Lang said there are 13 known gangs in Colquitt County, but none of them have affiliations with national gangs and are not very organized.

The Moultrie Police Department has formed a Gang Task Force with the help of the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Lang said its impact has been felt here. Gang activity has gone down significantly since the task force was created about 18 months ago. One very important part of the task force has been the involvement of parents in helping officers reach their children.

Ray asked Lang about reaching out to gang leaders as a way to deter gangs in Colquitt County. Lang said there are no true leaders of gangs here because they are not nearly as organized as national gangs, such as the Bloods and the Crips.

On another topic, Robert Stone asked Lang what can be done to keep people arrested multiple times for the same traffic offense off the roads. Lang said officers can only arrest violators, and it is up to the court system to handle the punishment of those violators.

“Officers do set up roadblocks,” Lang said, “but we’re not getting a fraction of those impaired drivers.”

The final input meeting of this round will be held on Thursday, May 15, at Moultrie Technical College on North Veterans Parkway for Northeast Moultrie residents. A county-wide Community Agenda meeting related to the Southwest Georgia Regional Development Center’s (RDC) community assessment will be held tonight at 6 p.m. at Willie J. Williams Middle School.