Wheeless calls out unkempt property owners

County Judge takes to social media to compel county-wide cleanup By the Evening Times News Staff

news@theeveningtimes.com

We’re all familiar with the old saying. Keep America Beautiful, a Stamford, Connecticut based non profit organization founded in 1953, and most, if not all of us, know about the famous 1971 Ad Campaign, featuring Iron Eyes Cody, the “Crying Indian.”

These well known campaigns focus on three key issues, litter prevention, waste reduction/recycling and community beautification.

While Judge Woody Wheeless doesn’t have a similar theme, Crittenden

See COUNTY TRASH on Page 3

County Judge Woody Wheeless is tired of trashy yards and junky properties in the county. Wheeless is targeting non-compliant sites around the county for code violations.

Submitted photo

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Countians can recognize what he does have and that is a similar passion for wanting county residents to take pride in what they have and to keep their homes and property from becoming an ugly eyesore.

Since becoming county judge and going back to the time he served on the Quorum Court, Wheeless has made it one of his priorities to tackle the problem of blight on the county.

“We receive a number of complaints from residents throughout the county but the three areas of most concern are Highland Park, Lakeshore and Harvard Yard and we are continuing to work to clean up these troubled hot spots,” Wheeless

said. For instance, Wheeless said the Quorum Court

just recently approved five houses to be demolished in Harvard Yard and last year the county spent $15,000 just in Dumpsters alone and the majority of those went to Highland Park, Lakeshore and Harvard Yard.

“Here’s is how we handle these situations. When we get a complaint

I

usually go out myself to evaluate the situation and then I go to our Code Enforcement Officer, Rodney Davis, to follow up. He will go out to make contact with the resident and tell that person they have 30 days to clean up or face a court date with District Court Judge Fred Thome. But, there have been instances where violators have been fined as much as $500.

“If at the end of the 30 days the occupant cleans up their property Judge Thorne usually dismisses the charges and only assesses

court costs,” Wheeless

said.

The number of complaints vary from one month to another but Judge Wheeless said last month either he or Davis have been to between 10 and 15 properties. Last month Wheeless said they issued seven citations alone in Highland Park and all those have been resolved.

“What we have in many cases the occupants are just renting the property but if we get no results from them we then go to the actual property owner to get the situation handled,” Wheeless said.

In Highland Park alone there has been an aggressive attempt to clean up the area that goes back as far as 15 years.

“What we notice in some cases people bringing in campers and living in them which is against the county ordinance and when we tell them they must remove the campers they always comply,” Wheeless said.

In one instance there was a person using the property to store scrap metal and collecting anything they could in metal products.

“These situations didn’t happen overnight and we can’t solve it overnight but, one thing I can say is that

we are making progress and making a very positive impact on Crittenden County,” Wheeless said.

Wheeless said the message for cleaner Crittenden County is getting out particularly on social media where Wheeless uses frequently to keep Crittenden Countians informed.

“What I have learned is that many county residents simply don’t understand they simply can’t do anything they want just because they are living in the county. Crittenden County has many of the same codes, rules and regulations as cities have regarding what can and can’t be allowed,” Wheeless said.

Inoperable cars, old tires, broken appliances and plain old piles of trash — county residents are being warned to clean up their mess or face consequences, including citations and fines.

Submitted photo