| Citizens Begin Push To Cleanup Eye-Sores In Calhoun City |
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By JOEL McNEECE A push is underway by a group of citizens in Calhoun City to get some dilapidated buildings around the square addressed by either making them more presentable or tearing them down. Todd Cospelich led a discussion at last week's Calhoun City Rotary Club meeting concerning the issue, seeking input from club members. “We’re interested in the City Board considering all of its options to enforce existing ordinances or enact new ones to address the unsightly buildings and unkempt properties in the city,” said Cospelich, who is among a half dozen Calhoun City Chamber members who are actively seeking solutions to improve the city’s appearance. “We’re trying to come up with options from wherever to help our city address this problem.” Calhoun City Mayor J.R. Denton said the city does have a “nuisance ordinance” that addresses “junk cars” and property concerns. Property owners in violation of the ordinance are sent a certified letter, allowed a designated amount of time to correct the issue, and then cited and fined if they fail to comply. “It’s been effective for us on the smaller properties,” Denton said. “The larger properties, like the buildings around the square, are a lot different.” Denton said the town has not tackled the “big issues you’re talking about” primarily due to potential costs and liability concerns. He said some properties in the past have been offered to the city, but the city refused them due to the estimated cost and liability of cleaning those properties as well as the desire to leave the properties on the tax roll. Former Mayor and Rotarian Chodie Myers agreed. “During the 10 years I was mayor we ran into liability issues,” Myers said. “These buildings aren’t easy to tear down. Some of them have common walls. Our board just wasn’t willing to take on that liability.” Myers said he tried other avenues such as trying to get the properties declared endangerments to public health and safety, but was unsuccessful. Some of the properties mentioned as needing attention were the ones in the northeast corner of the square, including the old Mart Theater, and the former Davis Insurance building on the south side of the square. The question was raised at the February Chamber of Commerce meeting if the chamber could undertake the cleanup effort if it obtained the buildings in question. “It would be very expensive for the chamber to tear down these buildings because a contractor would be required to absorb the liability,” John Burt said. The stability of some of the brick and mortar in several of the buildings was also questioned as part of the discussion that a professional demolition expert might be required. Rotarian Stan Blaylock mentioned that a group of private citizens in Eupora formed an LLC and invested money to acquire unsightly buildings in their downtown so they could address them. It was mentioned at the February Chamber meeting and a few Rotarians agreed at last week’s meeting that some of these property owners might donate the properties to the chamber or some other organization for the tax credit. Another round-table discussion on the issues and possible solutions is scheduled to take place at the March 9 meeting of the Calhoun City Chamber of Commerce. |