LACIE SILVA
Editor
Concerned citizen, Carolyn Millhiser, brought the board’s attention to the state of the community during the public comments section of the South Pittsburg city meeting on August 8,
Millhiser stated her concerns surrounding the weeds and grass that was not kept up, junk vehicles that are broken down or are not street legal, and further property deterioration. According to Millhiser, these are all recurring issues that neighbors refuse to keep up or attend to.
Beginning her speech by describing the setting of the city Millhiser said, “When you drive around South Pittsburg, you see lots that are abandoned with trees growing up all around so you can’t even see the house.” Despite the weed and grass height ordinances, Millhiser attests that the problems persist.
Millhiser asked the board to find a way to encourage the citizens of the community to take care of their property and comply with ordinances. “It just doesn’t look nice for our community.” Millhiser stated.
Chief of Police, Wayne Jordan was in attendance and advised the board of numerous citations and problem areas.
Chief Jordan spoke about citations for a burnt house in the area. According to Chief Jordan, the homeowner attests that the insurance company is holding them up. He further advised that in this circumstance he had given the home owners until September 11, to fix the property or face the court.
The chief also admitted there are several other cases that he is juggling and apologized that he cannot attend to each and every occurrence whether it is on his current caseload or not.
Chief Jordan gave an example of a recent successful resolution that had occurred. He stated that there was a business property where the property was not being mowed and as a result were threatened with a citation of a code violation. In passing the property later that same day, Chief Jordan witnessed several people mowing the lawn.
The board listened to Millhiser’s concerns and Chief Jordan’s reports, however, there was not a determination made nor a motion to discuss the matter further in next month’s agenda.
