Mayor Schertzer announces Pilot Program for Block Cleanup
Mayor Scott Schertzer announced that the City of Marion will shepherd a Pilot Program to assist residents in a two day clean the street program on Decatur Street in Marion.
Currently this is a pilot program to assist residents in combating an issue of neighborhood education and awareness through a street cleanup pilot program event. The program came about after Mayor Schertzer received a call from a resident on Decatur stating that she believed her neighbor may need some assistance. “After speaking with the neighbor and surveying the area, I knew the City needed to help. I saw a need to help the residents of the street and collectively a new pilot program was formed to help the residents dispose of yard waste, debris, junk cars, and general waste.”
A committee was formed consisting of Officer Casey Thomas, Code Enforcement Sanitarian Sindy Thrapp, Sanitation Supervisor Matt Large, Service Director Cathy Chaffin, 1st Ward City Councilman Kai Meade and Mayor Scott Schertzer. After much collaboration and discussion, the committee found the best way to help was to devote the time and resources to assist the residents of Decatur Street with a specialized cleanup effort.
Residents are often unaware of the Marion City Code regulations regarding junk vehicles, tires, and general waste; therefore, an educational and informative letter was sent to every resident and property owner on Decatur Street. A Community Meeting was held at the Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church on July 15th to discuss how the City could and will be helping. The results of that meeting were very encouraging. The City is appreciative to Mt. Zion and Bishop Greg Draper for their involvement in this and many other projects.
The committee continued with the coordination and execution of a specialized cleanup program and enlisted the assistance of the Marion Municipal Court Probation Department Community Service Program to provide workers for the upcoming event.
This team of Community Service workers, as well as City of Marion staff will be ready and available to help residents. We believe that with the dedication of the resources we can help lift the neighborhood and provide the helping hand.
The event will take place on Thursday, July 23 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm and on Friday, July 24 from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm.
“I want to thank Hessler’s Screen Printing for their generous donation of T-shirts for our staff and volunteers. This effort would not have been possible without the collaborative efforts of Officer Casey Thomas, Sindy Thrapp, Matt Large, Cathy Chaffin, Kai Meade, Marion City Police Department MPACT, Lt. BJ Gruber, Administrative Assistant Janell O’Neil and the Marion Municipal Court Probation Department Staff. We are looking forward to a successful pilot program that we can implement throughout the City.”
For additional information regarding this program or other questions regarding regulations on code enforcement issues, including junk vehicles, tires, etc., call 740-387-2248.
