Hornsby board discusses city blight

Members of the Hornsby Board of Mayor and Aldermen held a lengthy, and sometimes energetic discussion, on the subject of blight within the city of Hornsby during their regular meeting on Tuesday, August 4.
The main topic of discussion was five pieces of property that, according to Hornsby Mayor Mack Carter and Alderman Patricia Plunk, are either overgrown with limbs or in need of mowing. Plunk suggested something needs to be done to clean up these pieces of property. The mayor responded he is already cutting a couple of these properties' grass himself but he agrees that something must be done. It was suggested the city look into how much it would cost to clean up these properties and if the city could not convince the owners to get the work done themselves, then the city would do the work and bill the property owners. The current ordinance gives the city the option to maintain the property, bill the landowner, and to place a lien on the property if necessary to collect any funds that have not been repaid to the city.
“We will exhaust all means available to us in an effort to get the property cleaned up before we step in and do the job ourselves, bill the landowner and possibly place a lien on the property,” Carter said. “The board is aware that several of these properties are owned by older or disabled citizens and there may be an issue of the availability to pay.”

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