Decatur residents Jerry Freeman and Bill Briedinger expressed their concern to the Decatur Board of Aldermen about the upkeep of an abandoned house at 36 South Sixth Ave. at their regular meeting on Tuesday, March 6. Freeman and Briedinger said the house, which is in their neighborhood, is about to undergo foreclosure and that the grass is overgrown, and the interior is cluttered. They both said the property is becoming a health hazard due to mold and mildew.
“Over a period of time, it’s just gotten worse and mildew is building up and it’s not healthy and we’re getting very concerned about it,” said Freeman.
Freeman said that the ownership of the house is now the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Association. Town Clerk Brenda Harper said that she contacted the USDA’s office in Meridian about possibly getting workers from the USDA’s Jackson office to come and clean the property. The USDA told her that they needed photos to show how dilapidated the property had become to see if cleaning it would be an option.
Police Chief Joedy Pennington told the board that some motorists were still speeding on South Broad just across the train tracks westbound towards Conehatta. Pennington said that the problem mostly occurred between 5:30-9:30 p.m., but that his officers couldn’t patrol the street 24 hours each day.
The issue was first brought to the board at the October 2017 meeting and the town is still considering adding speed bumps to slow down speeders.
“I know it’s just an issue that never goes away,” said Ward 2 Alderman Mark Buntyn. “I think the board has got to do something, and I think rumble strips is the right answer.”
The board also accepted a bid from Sistrunk Lawn Care of Philadelphia who were among five lawn care businesses who submitted bids for the upkeep of the town cemetery. Sistrunk submitted the lowest bid at $560 per month.
The board accepted the results of the 2017 audit. Harper said in her financial report that water revenue was down about $30,000 and fines were down about $14,000 in 2017 according to the audit.
Harper also said that so far this fiscal year, every department was operating within their budgets. Harper also said the town had collected more than $2,000, mostly from maintenance fees for the cemetery fund.
