When the Decatur County Board of Commissioners consider a final vote on the proposed nuisance law on Tuesday, it will mark a major step in cleaning up the county.

Once it becomes law, strong, across-the-board enforcement should be a robust encore.

But keep it coming.

The new Bainbridge High School is going to be a true jewel coming into our county and city. Drive a little ways, and there’s a huge junkyard that the new law won’t address.

The commercial area of Home Depot and Wal-Mart are good signs of what this area has to offer for retail sales. Drive a little ways south from the entrance of Bainbridge, and there they are again—junky areas along a major entrance into the city that may not be addressed in the new law.

Same is true from the north.

Even though idle at the moment, the TRACO building adds some beauty to the County Industrial Park. Drive toward the city, and there—again—are junkyards that the new ordinance won’t affect.

The county has the Susan Boyle effect—rough looking on the outside but beautiful from within. “So please don’t judge us by our entrances.”

As the area grows, special attention needs to be placed on the entrances into the city and county. If one nuisance escapes from the jurisdiction of the nuisance law, find a way to ensure that junkyards and junky areas not regulated by the nuisance law come under a different regulation, such as a special county zoning ordinance that just puts major roads under its jurisdiction.