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More than two months after a May 9 storm tore through parts of Columbus, some building damage remains and some of the trees the 60 mph straight-line winds ripped down still sit where they fell.
What’s the status of cleanup efforts on public and private property? What steps are being taken to complete the cleanup?
What about public property?
The city can only remove debris on public property or that is encroaching public right-of-way.
Last week, the city established a temporary burn site at the landfill. Public Works Director Casey Bush said that will more quickly process storm debris already piled up there, as well as any left to pick up.
Public Works, with assistance from Lowndes County Road Department, resumed cleanup Tuesday. Mayor Keith Gaskin said most of the remaining storm debris is on Northside, particularly in and around Lee Park.
The county assisted the city with cleanup in the immediate aftermath of the storm. However, repairs to two city boom trucks necessitated another request for county assistance. On one truck, the boom recently broke. The other is in the body shop after it was involved in a wreck.
What about private property?
While Code Enforcement Director Sasha James said cleanup is either complete or underway at most private properties the storm affected, “a handful” show little to no signs of improvement.
Most of those are on Northside near Military Road, while a few are in Southside, James said.
City officials said private property owners are responsible for cleaning up and repairing their own storm damage. If they don’t, they could be subject to the city declaring their property a “menace to public health, safety, and welfare of the community” under Mississippi Code 21-19-11.
James said she has already sent code violation notices to some of those property owners.
Once notified, property owners have at least 30 days to remediate the violation or they could face a city council vote on immediate abatement.
If the city intervenes and abates the issue itself, it files a lien against the owner’s property taxes for the cost of the work.
James urges property owners who receive code violation notices to contact her office at (662) 244-3500 with a plan of action before it gets to the council.
“Reach out to me, and we can work together to get it situated,” she said.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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