County plans to clear overgrown yard The front yard of 128 N. Chestnut Drive in the Oakdale Park subdivision of Columbus was the topic of a public hearing Thursday at the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors meeting. The board took steps toward deeming the home a health hazard. Photo by: Jason Browne
Lowndes County supervisors took steps toward eliminating a hazardous eyesore in Oakdale Park Thursday.
In a public hearing included as part of Thursday’s board meeting, the supervisors unanimously passed a motion to begin collecting bids for the task of clearing the overgrown yard of Keith Kimmerle’s home at 128 North Chestnut Drive.
Kimmerle did not attend the meeting and has not been heard from in more than a year.
“We’re not even sure where he is. There’s been no sign of life at that house for a year,” said Frank Ferguson, supervisor for District 2, which contains Oakdale Park.
The board agreed to ask the health department to assess Kimmerle’s home to determine what risk the thick growth poses.
Supervisors noted Kimmerle, years ago, appeared before the board and said he enjoys bird watching and allows the yard to stay overgrown to attract birds.
Carol Donald, a neighbor of Kimmerle’s for 12 years, says the yard attracts snakes — she mentioned three spotted or killed near the yard in the last year — and worries it may be a fire hazard.
“On a dry day anyone can drive by and throw a match and it’s over,” said Donald.
In addition to the high grass and trees, the house has a rusted Ford Bronco parked in the driveway just off the street, blocking the entrance, and a Ford Escort parked near the home’s garage.
The building also is deteriorating.
“The house is in shambles,” said Ferguson.
County Attorney Tim Hudson said having the house officially deemed a health hazard would open the option of clearing the yard, as long as none of Kimmerle’s private property is damaged.
Strategic planning
The board’s cooperation on the issue of the overgrown yard followed a contentious decision to allocate $6,000, split between the towns of Crawford and Artesia, for strategic planning.
Patsy Patterson, of the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District, brought a request before the board for $3,000 in matching funds for each community to receive an additional $7,000 from an Appalachian Regional Commission grant. The $10,000 per town would be used to coordinate a plan for projects and needs.
District 1 Supervisor and Board President Harry Sanders opposed providing the funds, saying $3,000 isn’t hard to come by and the communities might become too dependent on the county.
“Why come to the county board instead of the cities of Artesia and Crawford?” Sanders asked Patterson.
“Because I don’t think they have the money,” replied Patterson.
District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks immediately endorsed funding the requests.
“As the chairman says, ‘Why not help a friend?’” said Brooks, quoting a statement made by Sanders in an earlier meeting, at which the board discussed purchasing land in the Burns Bottom area for a soccer complex and accepting donated land and in-kind services from the city of Columbus.
“There’s no doubt in my mind, if this was Caledonia (making the request), you would lead the charge,” Brooks directed at Sanders.
District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith pointed out that the ARC grant became available after Artesia and Crawford had finalized their yearly budgets.
“This just came about this week,” said Smith. “Crawford has issues. They’re 25-40 years behind on living conditions.”
The sniping between Brooks and Sanders continued, with Sanders motioning to table the issue, but the board voted the motion down 3-1 with District 3 Supervisor John Holliman abstaining.
The board proceeded to vote on granting the requested funds and passed the motion 3-2 with Holliman and Sanders voting against.
Other business
In other business the board:
Voted to close a portion of Lott-Field Road at the request of Gloria Jones.
Jones says the dead-end road is a common target for vandals and her family would provide a gate to close the last 500 feet of the street to traffic.
The Jones’ home is the only home on the end portion of the street.
Approved the purchase of equipment for several Lowndes County schools as well as $1-an-hour raises for county Road Department employees Mike Aldrige and Dale Pickering, to $13.94 an hour.
County Road Manager Ronnie Burns, after requesting the raises, asked the county to apply to make Military Road a state-aid road to receive funding assistance in repaving the road, which is riddled with potholes. The board passed the motion to make Military a state-aid road.
Agreed to buy $100 advertisements at the Columbus High School baseball field and in the Caledonia High School basketball program.
Went into executive session to accept a proposed legal agreement between Phillips Development LLC, and the Lowndes County Port Authority.
The board accepted a settlement to a pending lawsuit brought against Phillips Development regarding undeveloped land at the Lowndes Port. The agreement gives Lowndes County the option to buy five acres of property at $25,000 per acre for the next five years.
The land originally was sold to a material company in 1986 under the condition it be developed into commercial property. The material company instead sold the land to Phillips Development, which did not honor the purchase agreement.
The county sued Phillips Development to retrieve the land due to interest from potential industrial clients, Sanders explained.
“If another client comes in the next five years that wants (the property), we have a way to buy it,” said Sanders.
If the five years passes without an industrial client purchasing the land, Sanders said the county will decide then whether or not to buy the land, but the county is “not going to buy it anytime soon.”
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lee | 10/16/2009 11:29:00 AMmark as inappropriate 616 North Browder would look the same if the neighbors did not mow the grass every now and then. The city has been called several times since June about the grass and the mosquito-infested swimming pool in the back. I wonder sending a picture to the news paper might get someone to act?
TD | 10/17/2009 9:41:00 PMmark as inappropriate I hope the county is smart enough to add the yard cleanup charge to this property owner's tax bill. The owner should still be responsible.
