A Terrible Mess Reported at Lewisport City Council Meeting

At the Lewisport City Council meeting last Thursday, March 17, John Walker arrived to explain what has been happening near his house, and see if he could get some help with the issue. The property owner next door to him rents to tenants. And, over the last two years, John has had to clean up huge messes; such as, trash from the overflowing trash bins, and the tenants’ dogs running loose, and tearing up trash everywhere. He has been documenting it, and has many photos that illustrate how bad the problem has been, and how it has gotten worse. He also has cameras installed around his house and property, and has video footage of the ongoing problem.
One of many issues, is that the trash bins are located at the side of the apartments, and from the camera footage, John could see that people were driving by at early hours of the morning, and dumping their trash into them; when they are already overflowing with full bags of trash.

“I took the initiative. The bin was maybe two feet overflowing. So, I had full bags of trash blowing into my yard, which I had to pick up, and put back in the bins. I think there were four bins that were three quarters full of water. So, I drilled holes in those, and tried to let out some of the water, and put a mosquito bomb in there. And, then of course, on my property in the back, there’s a drainage ditch. Well, I’ve got trash that builds up on his side. I’ve got to go in and remove that trash. Anytime before it rains, I’m outside digging up the ditch from leaves and everything blowing into my property. I’ve tried to talk to him (property owner) for months on end. I’ve asked for help,” John said.

Lewisport Mayor, Chad Gregory, was very responsive. “You’re my second complaint. I got the first one, probably three weeks ago. I understand,” he said. “I’ve got a few pieces of property over there that are going to need to be dealt with in the next couple of weeks. That is one of them. And, there are a couple of others. I’ll make progress, and I’ll let you know how the progress is going. I will give a call to the judge executive tomorrow. We’re gonna get on it. And, I will ensure that somebody will contact you. I hope you will see the progress,” he said.

Another ongoing issue, has been the horrible mess that some of the tenants next door have made while renting there, as well as the unthinkable state that some have left the rentals in, upon leaving. “The tenants are coming back over there at 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning. The last time they came in, they left the front door wide open, it was like maybe 25 or 30 degrees,” John said. He went over to shut the door that was left open, and it was worse than one could imagine. “No gas, no electric, no water. There was a deep freeze full of rotted meat…So, now you see where the temperature is getting outside, and I try to shut the garage door. I’ve got critters that are trying to get in there. There are probably 8 lawnmowers that are sitting over there. There are bags of trash around the back of the property.”
Mayor Gregory recommended that he also go and report these issues to the health department as soon as possible. It is a shame that John has been put through this. The amount of extra work that he has had to do in order to keep his house and property in order, and the amount of patience that he’s managed to have through this ordeal is very commendable.

By Jennifer Wimmer