Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Unattended lots and abandoned cars have drawn the attention of Tekoa Mayor John Jaeger, in an ongoing effort to reduce both.
The city two years ago began an effort to track down owners of lots not being maintained.
Once they make contact, the city offers to clean up the lot with workers at a fee rate of $30 an hour.
“We don’t want to do it,” said Jaeger. “We’ve got guys with better things to spend their time on.”
Earlier this year, a property owner who the city called came down from Spokane to work on his lot and a neighbor stopped by. In talking, the man said he was not sure why he even still had this lot. The neighbor offered to buy it and a deal was done.
In addition to asthetics, the unkept lots foster rodents and present a fire danger from weeds.
“Be fair to your neighbors,” Jaeger said.
The city now has arrangements with several lot owners to pay $30 an hour for maintenance of their lots.
One owner in Portland signed on for the program but has not paid, so the town put a lien on the property.
The overall effort began in 2014 after a few complaints.
Many of the properties in question are owned by banks, which, once notified, have quickly taken care of the problem.
One such option for the city has been to hire high school students to do the work. One likes to bid on a job instead of being paid by the hour.
A similar effort has been underway on inert vehicles. Many have been moved just from Jaeger or other city staff contacting the owners.
Overall, results have been seen around the town.
“Progress, how’s that sound?” said Jaeger.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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