Garden City offers extensions to address nuisance properties
May 23—No action was taken on the majority of letters sent by the town of Garden City requesting residents address nuisance properties.
Town clerk Amy Black said 22 letters were sent out in a recent round of letters to residents, a step the council said is needed to address the state of properties.
Black said 20 of the properties were dropped from the agenda prior to the meeting due to the efforts from property owners to take the requested measures. The two remaining properties, both located on Railroad Avenue, were granted 60-day extensions to complete their property cleanups.
Maintenance manager Mitch Black said he recently spoke to one of the property owners who he said had already completed a number of tasks and had asked what further steps needed to be addressed. The second homeowner told the council she had recently been injured while at work which had delayed her progress. She offered to provide the council with a note from her doctor detailing her injuries, but it said that would not be necessary.
"We're not wanting to be hard-headed about all this. If you are working toward it, that sounds good to me," councilmember Scott Arnold said.
A third resident, whose property had already been dropped from the agenda, addressed the council. She said her 60-year-old son had been the only help she had received in cleaning up her property, but thanked the council for bringing the issue to the public's attention.
The property owner thanked the council for sending the letters out.
Black said a second round of letters had been sent to residents earlier in the week.
The council also conducted a public hearing in accordance to the requirements necessary to receive grant funding for the upcoming water system extension project.
No community members opted to speak during the hearing, however, St. John and Associates engineer David Haynes offered further details on the scope of the project.
Haynes said in order to extend the town's water lines to the southern side of the Mulberry River into Blount County, crews would be drilling horizontally underneath the riverbed. In total, he said, the system would be extended roughly one mile and 13 properties within Cullman County and three in Blount County would benefit from the upgrades and extension.
In other business the council:
— Approved for Mayor Tim Eskew to spend up to $10,000 for materials to construct a pickleball court to be located in the Garden City Park.
— Announced it had been discussing an upcoming ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly renovated River Park with Attorney General Steve Marshall's office.
— Announced it was seeking sponsors for its 12th annual Freedom Celebration scheduled for June 30. Sponsorships are tax-deductible and will be displayed on a banner during the celebration. Deadline to be added on the banner is June 13. For more information, email Black at clerk@gardencityal.gov.
