Sanders Street resident asks council’s help

People living in condemned houses, discarded tires in the bushes and trash in the streets were among the issues that a Sanders Street resident brought to the attention of the Enterprise City Council at the meeting Feb. 1.

“We must do better than we are doing. That’s what I am coming here for,” Jacob Palmer told those attending the council meeting. “We really need to get out there in our community and really look and see what is going on because our area is very poor.”

Palmer, who lives on Sanders Street, reminded the council that he had addressed them a year ago to talk about the streets in his neighborhood. “And we need your help again to get this done,” he said.

“Grass is growing on the side of the curbs around our neighborhood and there are also broken sewer lines with trash in the sewer lines stopping it up,” Palmer said. “You’ve got houses around the neighborhood that are burnt and need to be condemned. You’ve got tires laying all in the bushes and trash in the bushes.

“You’ve got a lot of poor people in this city, poor people living in condemned houses that they should not be living in,” Palmer said. “The ditches are full of trees that have not been cut.”

District 1 Councilwoman Sonya Rich asked City Engineer and Director of Public Works Barry Mott to share the demolition project update he had provided to the council at the work session preceding the voting meeting.

Rich was referring to a $272,900 Community Development Block Grant awarded to Enterprise Jan. 20 by Gov. Kay Ivey and Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs Director Kenneth Boswell. Enterprise was one of 51 communities across the state to receive CDBG grants, which totaled $18 million.

Rich said she is familiar with the issues that Palmer addressed. “Sometimes he and I agree. Sometimes we don’t,” she said. “However, I have to agree with a lot of what he brought up tonight. He spoke about condemnation of homes.

“We have addressed this as a council and I’m sure that I speak for all four of these men (on the city council) in that we are serious about this problem. It is being addressed,” she added.

“Now some of the things he brought up, such as the grass growing in the curbs, I have to say a lot of these problems that he mentioned could just be addressed with a little attention,” Rich said. “I don’t fuss often and I’m not fussing really tonight but just a little more attention to some of the things in our city could help a great deal with some of the complaints that our citizens are having.”

Mott said that it is expected that 45 more abandoned and dilapidated structures will be demolished with funding from this grant. He said that those interested in having a structure put on the list should contact the Engineering Department, which is located on the lower level of city hall. “We just got demolition funds and I want to encourage people to do as Mr. Mott said and get with engineering,” Rich said.

The Enterprise City Council began a campaign to tackle the problem in 2015 when 105 demolitions were state-funded. City leaders recognized the need to put more teeth into its abandoned property ordinance as early as 2006 in a comprehensive study and in 2011, a stronger ordinance was adopted.

Since then, with previous CDBG funding, the city has demolished 150 residential nuisance properties at no cost to property owners. The current funding will allow the city to begin Phase III of the project.

Elimination of the properties is a long and complicated process, said Enterprise Mayor William Cooper, noting the City Engineering Department handles nuisance property reports from citizens, conducts surveys and works with property owners regularly to mitigate problems.

In other business, the council approved the request of Enterprise Chamber of Commerce President Erin Grantham to hold the World’s Smallest St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Half Pint 0.5K on Saturday, March 12, with a rain date of Saturday, March 19.

The council also approved the request of Enterprise Tourism Director Tammy Doerer to hold the Downtown Spring Festival Saturday, April 9, with a rain date of Saturday, April 16. This involves the closure of Main Street and College Street. This is a preliminary request and final approval is pending approval from the Alabama Department of Transportation.

Doerer also requested that Railroad Street behind the Rawls Restaurant be closed Saturday, April 9 from noon until midnight in preparation for a wedding reception.

The next meeting of the Enterprise City Council is March 1 in the council chambers at Enterprise City Hall. A work session begins at 5 p.m. A voting meeting begins at 6 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public.