By: Lydia Crawley, The Parsons Advocate
Public comments fueled debate over the state of properties around the City of Parsons Tuesday night April 21st at the City of Parsons Council meeting.
Parsons resident Debbie Kyle read from a statement submitted by a friend and neighbor who could not attend the meeting in which scathing remarks were made about the state of private properties in the City and the Council’s lack of action on the matter.
“If there is a City ordinance why is there no Zoning to enforce people to clean up their trashy properties?” Kyle read.
The statement Kyle read commented on houses in town that were beyond repair with roofs and porches that were falling in on Walnut Street and the bottom of Quality Hill and grass and debris that attracted vermin.
“We have a lot of people that come into here for camping and Bluegrass Festival that remark how dirty this town is,” Kyle read.
It is a statement that was refuted by many in attendance, including Parsons Police Chief Kevin Keplinger.
“I take a little exception to that because no one has ever said, that I have ever heard, especially at the Bluegrass, how dirty the town is,” Keplinger said. “I hear the exact opposite constantly. I truly do.”
The sentiment was echoed by Mayor Bruce Kolsun. He said that he is at the Bluegrass Festival “quite often” and visitors always give him positive comments on how the City looks and how they are treated.
“That’s why they come back every year,” Kolsun said.
Council Member Seth Rosenau said that given the state of the economy, many people cannot afford home repairs. The concern of the City is safety and health, Rosenau stated, not aesthetics. Council Member Tim Turner said that he agreed that there were those in town that may want better houses or upgrades, but were limited by what they could afford currently.
“Other than the community going together and saying, hey you know we notice you’ve been struggling, we’d like to donate money and some free labor and would you like to have your porch fixed? Or whatever,” Turner said. “Its community projects. If someone could take that on, that would be a way to remedy something.”
Rosenau said that many people help each other out in the community. He said that in Parsons, many people mow each other’s lawns, especially to help out the elderly in the community.
“That is a beautiful thing about where we live is people actually do care,” Rosenau said.
Turner went on to caution on judging people’s homes too harshly because of lack of money. He said that while some people may feel that someone’s home may be a “run down shack,” the person who lived there may be proud of it because it was theirs. Turner spoke about the importance of home ownership to everyone, regardless of income level.
“We have to be I think cautious about judging people’s homes and saying well its just a run down shack,” Turner said. “Well they’re proud of that because that is where they live and I think that’s important. Home ownership’s important to everyone whether you have $10 or $10 million. Everyone wants to own their own home.”
Council Member Sam Humphrey also reminded the Council and those in attendance, that the City will supply dumpsters free to those in need in the community.
“If you all know somebody that can’t afford to take their trash to the dump…we’ll set a dumpster at their house and we’ll go pick it up once its filled up,” Humphrey said.
Rosenau said the City was proud that it was the only municipality in the County to employ its own police force and Code Enforcement Officer on the payroll full time.
Turner said that he didn’t want Kyle to feel that the concerns were not taken seriously by the Council. He described the reporting process like employees with separate jobs. Residents have the job to report issues within the City and the Council has the responsibility or “job” to investigate those reports.
“I don’t want anyone to feel like they are discrediting you,” Turner said. “That’s your job to come and report things and its our job to check it out. If we don’t find anything, we don’t. If we do, we get it taken care of. That’s our job to do that part.”
Other centers of debate surrounded vehicles without wheels or flat tires. Keplinger said that if a vehicle has a current tag on it, even if it has no wheels, he cannot tow.
“If its got a valid tag, its a valid vehicle,” Keplinger said.
The statement also mentioned the pink wall on the outskirts of town. Officials have stated that the wall has already been slated for cleanup prior to Kyle’s visit to the Council. No date is available for when the wall will be cleaned.
