Star struggles: How to clean up around house ♥

As published August 16, 2012 in the Courier-Tribune
By Hugh Martin

biscoewriter@yahoo.com

STAR — For the third straight month Star residents have attended the regular meeting of the Board of Commissioners to see what will be done about abandoned houses that have become overgrown with brush and weeds, and particularly a house with a swimming pool filled with stagnant water.

For the third straight time those residents have left the meeting with no clear answer to the dilemma.

“We were hoping that Max (Garner, Town Attorney) would be here,” said Tina Harris, who lives next door to one of the properties in question at 413 Temple Terrace.

At the June meeting, when the problem was first discussed, Garner was directed to research the property to find out who the owner is so that the town could send notification about cleaning up the overgrown yard.

According to Town Clerk Robin Hussey, the Town of Star has an old ordinance on the books that would require the property owner to clean up, but the ordinance requires that the Montgomery County Health Department deem a property to be a health hazard before the town can legally take the initiative to have the property cleaned.

Hussey reported at the July meeting that someone from the health department had told her that if the property was unoccupied that they have no jurisdiction in the matter.

Mayor Susan Eggleston said that the town mailed a registered letter to the last known owner with a deadline to respond by Aug. 13, the date of the regular August meeting.

“The matter will go to Max now,” Eggleston said. “It has been rumored that the property changed hands on Aug.1 and is now the responsibility of a lienholder.”

Neighbors reported that a large limb is now lying on a power line on the property, but that a call to Progress Energy to have it removed had no results. “Progress Energy said that they couldn’t go onto the property to remove it,” said Harris.

Commissioner Richard Hinson, who also lives adjacent to the Temple Terrace property, said, “If the limb stays on that line and we have an ice storm then the entire neighborhood will be out of power.”

Eggleston assured the neighbors that the town was doing all that could be done.

In other business, Eggleston, Hinson and Commissioners Alice Clemens, Eddie Bernard, Jennifer Fountain and Steve Lassiter:

* Received an update on workshops and volunteer opportunities at the Star Heritage Center from Director Sheila Menendez.

* Approved the sale of a surplus 2003 Crown Victoria police car to Rodney Hannah of Troy, who submitted the high bid of $1,267.

* Approved the hiring of a reserve police officer position to fill a vacancy on the force.

* Commissioner Fountain reported on improvements at the town park, which includes the construction of a disc golf course.

* Approved funding of up to $300 for Tori Waynick, an East Montgomery High School student, who has proposed a quilt trail in Star as her senior project.

* Approved a lease agreement with the Montgomery County Council on Aging for use of the old Town Hall/Fire Department complex as a community kitchen facility. The lease is for a minimum of three years at a cost of $10 per month.