The city has ordinances for junk cars in yards, abandoned houses and dangerous commercial property, but the Clarksdale Board of Mayor and Commissioners want public input on new ordinances for the city to address these issues.
The city has scheduled a city-wide meeting for Tuesday, May 23 at the City Auditorium where they will hear from those who want to clean up Clarkdale and also from those who think it is just fine the way it is. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m.
The city has talked for years about cleaning up Clarksdale and discussed junk cars parked in yards and on the streets, tearing down burned-out and abandoned houses and demanding owners of commercial property keep their land and buildings clean and safe.
The city has had ordinance preventing parking cars in front yards for year, but enforcement stopped at the end of the administration of former Mayor Bill Luckett. Current Mayor Chuck Espy has not allowed city workers to systematically tow junk cars for years and only under the pressure of commissioners and the public has his stance softened.
In February 2022, Ward 2 Commissioner Ken Murphey went with the code enforcement officer to put green notice stickers on cars in his district, but no one was ever dispatched by the Executive Branch to haul the cars off. One particular car on Leflore Avenue is still there.
Property owners around the old compress and vacant lots on Sunflower Avenue have repeatedly approached Ward 3 Commissioner Willie Turner about problems with insects, rodents and snakes in their neighborhoods because of a dump on their street.
Ward 1 Commissioner Bo Plunk has repeatedly asked Code Enforcement Officer David Walker, City Board Attorney Melvin Miller and former Public Works Director Todd Jones for the process to get abandoned houses torn down and been delayed in his efforts.
At Monday’s City Board meeting, commissioners did vote to begin the process to clean up 16 properties. The process begins with the city holding a hearing deeming the property a nuisance, safety hazard or health hazard.
The next step requires the city to contact the property owner with their complaint and ask the problem be addressed within a certain time period and a deadline set. If the deadline is not met, the city then informs the property owner of their intentions to remedy the problem and a second deadline is set. If the second deadline is not met, the city begins the legal process to allow personnel and equipment to physically go on that property and address the issue.
The city can send the property owner a bill for the cleanup. If the bill is not paid a lien can be placed on the property that must be cleared before the property can be sold.
The board set hearings for the following properties:
1. 417 Cherry
2. 526 Cherry
3. 522 Cherry
4. 1 14th Street
5. 852 Lincoln
6. 840 Lincoln
7. 825 Lincoln
8. 904 Lincoln
9. 434 Lincoln
10. 809 Magnolia
11. 324 Mississippi
12. 416 Mississippi
13. 454 McKinley
14. 423 McKinley
15. 438 Pecan
16. 415 Florida
The city has begun this process with several of these properties and has let deadlines lapse, prompting the process to have to start all over again.
The city embarked on an ambition program to remove 50 dilapidated or nuisance properties from neighborhoods around town in 2021, only to discover they had torn down two houses with without following proper procedure. That stopped the citywide cleanup. The city had to pay the property owner for damages.
The city also has a process where a property owner can be work with the city and have their property cleaned up, with the property owner agreeing to pay for the cost incurred by the city.
In other business:
• The city approved minutes from the April 24 and May 4 meetings
• The city received reports from the following departments: City Clerk, Police, Fire, Public Works, Personnel, Grant Writer and City Attorney.
• Cory Thomas approached the board requesting the 2100 block of 6th Street be blocked off May 20, for his mother's anniversary
• The city paid bills and reimbursed employees for incidental expenses for April.
• Commissioner voted to pay the following Miscellaneous Claims: Cornerstone, $4,464; Mayor Espy mileage/travel, $294.75; JEG Ministries, $400; Christian Plumbing Service, $6,900; Lutts Wrecker Service. $1,170; KS Statebank, $5,272.35; City of Clarksdale; $1,858.09; MS Development Authority $1,858.09; Zerbini Family Circus $1,500; Interest and Bond Fund $306,923.20; Regions Bank, $306,923.20; Neel-Schaffer, 20,864.17
• The city approved a one year contract with Key Solutions and the Police Department for $1,200, for their RMS off-site backup system
• Commissioner approved the lowest quote from Butler's Tree Service to remove two trees located at 311 Elm Ave., and one tree at 1532 Cedar St., in the amount of $3,500.
• The city acknowledged the completion of two years for Noah Andrews in the Fire Department.
• The city rescinded the longevity increase of Lisa Liles in the Clerk's office due to reaching the maximum 10-percent.
• Commissioners acknowledged the resignation of the following employees in the Police Department: Keanna Smith, Joseph Wide, Neal Mitchell, L'Jamarro Peters.
• The city hired David Harris as a knuckleboom operator in the Public Works Department.
• The city offered employment to Carolyn Williams as the Records Clerk in the Police Department
• The city offered employment to Charlene Galmore as a dispatcher in the Police Department
• The city reviewed proposals for emergency erosion repair on Riverside Avenue with proposals of $450,000 and $225,000 submitted. .
• The Board of Mayor and Commissioners voted to recess until Thursday, May 25, at noon at City Hall. All meetings are open to the public.
