CLAYTON 鈥 St. 亚洲无码 County Council members on Tuesday urged the region鈥檚 economic development agency to make sure a planned cleanup next week of land it oversees in Wellston doesn鈥檛 go to waste.
鈥淭he way it looks now is totally unacceptable,鈥 Council Chair Rita Heard Days, D-1st District, told St. 亚洲无码 Economic Development Partnership officials during a council committee hearing. 鈥淲e will be expecting some kind of plan.鈥
The county鈥檚 Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, which the Partnership oversees, owns more than 30 lots in the Lulu Heights area of Wellston, just west of Normandy High School. LCRA acquired those properties 鈥 now a magnet for illegal dumping 鈥 as part of a failed effort to attract development there.
For 20 years, the county's LCRA has collected land throughout the inner-ring suburb of Wellston. The mayor is fed up.聽
鈥淚f you want to attract people to a community, it鈥檚 not going to come to a community looking like that,鈥 Days said.
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The LCRA owns about 150 properties throughout Wellston but the condition of Lulu Heights has garnered media attention in recent months, including from KMOX (1120 AM) host Charlie Brennan, who has spoken about it on his show and posted pictures to social media.
Partnership officials have scheduled a cleanup next week, from May 25 through May 27, with heavy equipment including an excavator and skid loader to remove the larger debris.
鈥淥ur understanding is it鈥檚 not generally individuals that are doing the dumping, it could be contractor companies that, instead of doing the proper thing and taking it to the proper disposal places, they actually just dump it here,鈥 Partnership CEO Rodney Crim said. 鈥淪o we want to really go after them.鈥
Crim said a St. 亚洲无码 County police camera was installed in the neighborhood within the last couple of weeks and the North County Police Cooperative will be increasing patrols. The goal is to identify and catch illegal dumpers, including those who leave construction debris in order to avoid landfill fees. Three maintenance contractors the LCRA hired in March, which are supposed to cut grass and remove smaller debris on LCRA鈥檚 Wellston properties, will also be photographing properties in order to document they are actually performing the work the agency pays them for, Crim said.
Plans call for camera, concrete barriers to keep future dumping from undoing cleanup work: 鈥榃e are trying to address the long-term solution.鈥
The cleanup effort next week is also open to volunteers, who can email wbudde@stlpartnership.com to schedule a shift. Crim said the Partnership will ensure volunteers will help with smaller debris and be provided proper protective equipment for the work.
Other council members said cameras haven鈥檛 deterred illegal dumping in their districts.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe there鈥檚 been one commercial dumper caught on camera that鈥檚 been held accountable,鈥 said Councilwoman Shalonda Webb, D-4th District.
Days, who represents the Wellston area, said she wants to see a plan for regular maintenance of the Lulu Heights properties so the cleanup next week doesn鈥檛 go to waste.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 make any sense to do that and then come back two weeks later and it鈥檚 just as bad,鈥 she said.