City looking like a landfill
Normally, when I think of spring, it’s with the anticipation of green – new flowers, gardens and fresh air.
It appears this season’s crop for Uniontown will be that of mattresses, discarded furniture, weeds and litter. Our mayor promised to clean up this city. If anyone is interested in his and city council’s job performance, I suggest the following: Take a drive down Gallatin Avenue and turn west at the old Mom Maruca’s restaurant.
At the first alley crossing, is the property of one of the avenue’s most infamous landlords. With the doors usually blown open to display contents, the garage here is currently storing several mattress sets along with another set propped against the lower side. In the yard behind the garage are even more mattresses along with discarded furniture.
Next door, observe the car that has been parked in the yard for the last 12-15 years. Grass here is cut only under threat of fine. In other words, once or twice a year. Below that, is a property that hasn’t been occupied in my memory. It’s a garbage collector.
Now, look left, to the rear of 37 W. Coffee Street (identified by red storage shed.) Aside from a required gas line replacement, absolutely nothing has been done in regard to maintenance of this property. Gutters are hanging, siding missing, windows and doors boarded up to keep out the derelicts who repeatedly broke in.
According to the landlord, the property is “unrentable.” But can it be condemned? Grass and weeds here usually grow as high as the top fence rail before the threat of fine brings in a mower. This is all within a half-block section. I feel like a postage stamp in a dump. What does the rest of this town look like? Each day, I see the discarded mattresses behind the Family Dollar store. They’ve been my view through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. Slow to disintegrate, I expect they’ll still be there for Easter and the Fourth of July because nothing happens at this store without an Act of God (subject to corporate approval) – no shoveling snow, no cutting down waist-high weeds no picking up litter.
In an ongoing effort to spur some action, I’ve written letters over the past year to the mayor, to John Over, to Jared Billy and to code enforcement. In late summer/early fall, code enforcement managed to motivate the property owners along the alley and in one “sweep,” grass was cut and trash removed.
Almost immediately, it returned to business as usual. What happened to the “sweep” program? City council has dragged its feet for so long, the ruts from their heels have been filled with so much trash, this city is looking more and more like a landfill.
Janet Lomax is a resident of Uniontown.