Council focuses on codes, eyesores
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on March 29, 2015 1:50 AM
The final day of the Goldsboro City Council's retreat focused on code enforcement -- for both trash collection and dilapidated buildings.
Public Works Director Jose Martinez presented his findings on trash collection downtown. Businesses, he said, do not all have dumpsters in which to put large garbage bags, causing the bags to be thrown in curbside containers and to overflow onto the streets.
"Some businesses don't have access to trash pickup, forcing them to use city cans, and it's making downtown look unmaintained," Martinez said.
He proposed several solutions to the problem, recommending placing dumpsters strategically throughout downtown for businesses to use, and then analyzing what is left on a case-by-case basis to place trash receptacles in the best possible areas for both downtown residents and businesses.
Several other options were presented to council:
* Do nothing. Maintain collection as it currently is with the abuse of public trash bins.
* Downtown dumpsters placed for use by businesses and residents.
* Require residents to use a bin if no dumpster is available.
* Allow commercial entities to use smaller bins instead of dumpsters.
* A combination of all four other options.
The council discussed that eventually bins will be replaced by bins that have covers, making it extremely difficult to fit larger bags inside of them. Therefore, they said, dumpsters will eventually be needed for downtown.
That discussion quickly evolved into commentary on litter throughout the city and the overall appearance of downtown houses.
"Our city is dirty," Councilman Chuck Allen said. "It's embarrassing. Everyone has an obligation to get rid of their own trash."
After quick back and forth -- and one suggestion by Mayor Al King to snap photos of people littering and publicly shame them -- the council decided to request that the police force ramp up its efforts in catching "litterbugs."
"If we do this, it means we're going to be ticketing our friends and neighbors -- people that have probably never received a ticket before," City Manager Scott Stevens said.
Each council member said they were aware of this, and that littering violations needed to be enforced -- regardless of who was doing the littering.
Chief Building Inspector Allen Anderson and Planning Director Jimmy Rowe then stepped up to discuss what is going on downtown in what they call their "six-block focus area."
The area runs from Spruce to James streets to Elm Street and down William, connecting back with Spruce Street.
There are eight active building permits in the area, including 303, 309, 403, 407 and 413 S. William St., and 403, 407 and 408 S. John St.
There are 124 existing parcels in the area, 61 of which are vacant.
Many of the houses in the area are dilapidated, Anderson and Rowe said, and to cure the problem, they have begun issuing what they call "blight letters," which are essentially warning letters to force the property owner to fix any issues.
This procedure, along with strict code enforcement, began in February, Rowe said, and has the goal of visually improving the properties for which the letter is issued.
Within the six-block focus area, two blight letters have been sent out, and 125 blight letters have been sent out throughout the city, he said.
There is currently one property scheduled for demolition -- The Mangum House -- at 302 S. John St. The property owner received a blight letter and then began removing items from the property.
This leaves windows open and unboarded -- a common problem with many of these properties, Rowe and Anderson said.
"If you notice around the city, we're having to board up a lot of houses," Anderson said.
Allen inquired how much this cost per window, and Anderson said approximately $1,000 per window.
"We've got to figure out how to get to these houses before they are so bad they have to be demolished," Allen said. "We can't afford to keep going around and boarding up all these windows."
Then, after the discussion of the newly enacted proactive code enforcement ended, Scott Barnard stepped up to discuss future plans for Goldsboro Country Club.
"The wedding industry will be our bread and butter for Goldsboro Country Club," Barnard said.
Barnard recommended to council members that they avoid renting the space out in one- to two-hour time periods. He said that would cause the club to operate at a loss.
The timing of rentals is also key, Barnard said.
"I wouldn't recommend renting the facility within 30 days of a date or farther than 18 months out," Barnard said.
The tentative cost for a wedding package at the country club -- meaning a full event that includes three setups and the use the back lawn with no time limit -- is $4,000. The wedding reception package comes in at half that cost and includes one area setup.
The recommended rate for hourly rentals is $40, for both city residents and non-city residents.
Several council members suggested having higher rates for non-city residents, but Barnard quickly explained that doing so would be more trouble than it's worth.
"If you do that then you'll have people getting around the higher rate any way they can," Barnard said. "People will start using their friends' addresses, and we'll have no way to confirm whether or not they actually live in the city, regardless of whether or not we require them to show water bills or I.D."
By the end of the council's final day of retreat, council members came away with four main goals for the upcoming year.
First, the council wishes to focus on greenways and pathways around the city.
Second, the council decided to continue investing in downtown and to expand efforts in recruiting private investment.
Third, the council decided to continue to place emphasis on the Parks and Recreation program and developing partnerships with local schools.
And lastly, the council decided to hone in on improving community appearance in blighted neighborhoods and downtown.
Councilman Michael Headen did not attend either day of the retreat.