The Oakdale Park jungle has been tamed, for now.
Keith Kimmerle, the man ordered by the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors to cut the 10-foot-tall grass in front of his North Chestnut Drive home, has complied, apparently doing the grunt work himself.
Justin Stimets, a neighbor of Kimmerle”s for two years, reported Kimmerle and an unknown assistant recently spent three days clearing the thick brush from the front and side of his dilapidated house before the reclusive former pilot instructor disappeared again.
“(Kimmerle) had a 10-foot (tall) pile of debris and tree limbs,” Stimets said Thursday as he shoveled dirt from the gutter on the cul de sac he shares with Kimmerle. The dirt, courtesy of Kimmerle”s cleaning job, would have clogged the gutter during a heavy rain.
At their Oct. 3 meeting, the supervisors gave Kimmerle 30 days to clear his yard, which neighbors said had begun to attract snakes and drive down property values. Kimmerle made a rare appearance at the board meeting, but only after the supervisors had closed a hearing regarding his perpetually problematic land.
Kimmerle, known to locals as “the birdman,” seldom visits his Oakdale Park home, which is surrounded by wild vegetation and sports rusted-out cars in the driveway. The front porch and interior of the home are stuffed with cardboard boxes, birdcages and birdhouses.
Two 20-foot poles in the front yard hold four-story birdhouses, which were lowered near the ground Thursday.
Kimmerles”s neighbors say he claims his overgrown yard attracts birds.
Neighbor Carl Deddo said Kimmerle”s hoarding behavior extends to the cars permanently parked in his driveway as well as the car he drives. Deddo says the trunk of Kimmerle”s white ”90s-model Ford Taurus, which is identical to one in his driveway, is stuffed with random pipes and wires.
The board of supervisors was unsympathetic to Kimmerle”s bird enthusiast hobbies last year as well, ordering his yard be cleared and tacking the bill on his taxes when he refused to comply.
Kimmerle owes the county approximately $1,000 in taxes and fees and must repay the company which purchased his land at a tax sale in August.
But despite the freshly cleared yard, Kimmerle”s 2010 episode may not yet be finished. District 2 Supervisor Frank Ferguson said the county is exploring whether it can force Kimmerle to clear his cluttered porch and move the rusted Ford Bronco back near the garage.
Meanwhile, cutting the tall grass solved one problem and revealed another.
“It”s kind of a Catch-22,” said Stimets, who plans to sell his home. “All this stuff grows up and you don”t see the house. But when you cut all the stuff, all you can see is the house.”
The possibility of condemning Kimmerle”s home and destroying it has been discussed briefly by the supervisors.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.