Neighbors fuss, cuss on Livingston Street

CELINA - City officials assured homeowners on East Livingston Street that they are aware of troublesome activity at a rental property and encouraged them to keep calling the police department so they can build a case against those responsible.

At a recent city council meeting, a group of neighbors spoke out against excessive junk and garbage littering a rental property as well as incessant vulgar language and loud noises heard at the residence.

Karla Hamblin, who said she has lived at 1801 E. Livingston St. a few months shy of three decades, distributed pictures she said she took of a nearby rental property.

She talked about "atrocious" amounts of junk, trash and garbage piling up at the property and bad behavior of the occupants.

"Vehicles come and go quickly. There is welding, grinding, beating, pounding, all hours of the night that I don't know what's going on there," she said.

Hamblin, who noted she's contacted the police, fire and health departments, said she understands officials must follow polices, procedures, rules and regulations, yet it feels like she's beating her head against a brick wall.

"But I am extremely frustrated as a taxpayer and as a citizen of this community, and I'm embarrassed at the amount of, just the trash," she said.

The heap of garbage provides a constant food source for vermin such as skunks and raccoons, Hamblin said before beseeching officials to do something about the problem that she believes is destroying neighborhood property values.

Councilman Jeff Larmore said the refuse seen in the pictures looks like it meets the city's criteria for junk. He said officials need to apply the city's junk ordinance to address the issues, suggesting they clean up the property and assess the cost to the property owners.

The situation has proven to be difficult, city safety service director Tom Hitchcock said.

"So it never gets to where we have to clean it up, but the next day he'll have just as much different junk out there," Hitchcock explained. "We just served six vehicles on his property a couple weeks ago. He's removed three of the vehicles, and he'll probably remove the other three before the deadline's up, but he'll have six more in there next week."

Hitchcock said it's a horrible situation.

"So is he running a business through there?" Larmore asked in regard to the loud sounds coming from the property.

"Every time we've tried to prove it, it's for friends," Hitchcock replied. "No cash is exchanging hands."

Police and fire personnel responded to the rental property 51 times last year, Hitchcock pointed out.

"It's not like we're not trying to get it solved," he said.

Mayor Jeff Hazel noted city officials must adhere to state statutes that dictate the time in which people have to remove junk from their property before additional action can be taken.

"We can't just give him six hours to move it. We have to follow statutory guidelines," he said.

Moore then asked officials to pull together all reports they have on the rental property for his review.

Two other neighbors fired off a litany of complaints about the rental property and said they don't feel safe living there.

"We're certainly sorry on your behalf. We have a great community, but a few rotten apples can really make it tough," city council president Jason King said.

Police Chief Tom Wale then waded into the conversation, telling the residents he knows they get tired of hearing it but told them to "call, call, call" the police department every time an incident arises.

"I don't care if you're annoying the cop that's on duty. Keep calling. They will respond," Wale said, adding he would reinforce to officers that in this particular case that warnings are no longer merited. "It's frustrating, I know, and if it would be my neighbor I would be very upset as well."

Councilman June Scott said though the residents may get tired of calling, it creates a paper trail that keeps adding up.

Wale agreed.

"I anticipate there's going to be a lot more cases crossing (city law director George Moore's) desk from our desk and making it into court," Wale told the distraught homeowners.