As aldermen try to find ways to build and beautify Brookhaven,the issue of dilapidated and abandoned lots and property valuescontinues to come up, so a committee has been formed to look intothe possibilities of giving the city a little more of a leg tostand on.

Ward Six Alderman David Phillips said the neighborhoodstabilization and property maintenance committee is looking intoways to encourage Brookhaven residents to upkeep their property, beit rental or private. He said this is not only for aesthetic value,but also because nice-looking property leads to a sense of pride inthe neighborhood.

“Our goal is to protect these neighborhoods against blight anddeteriorating influences, but also to protect property values,” hesaid. “We also want to, through code enforcement, give propertyowners confidence that city will protect their investment. We feelthat will encourage investment, as well as pride in theneighborhood.”

The committee, which consists of Phillips, Ward Two Alderman TerryBates and Ward One Alderman Dorsey Cameron, is focusing onresidential areas, and will work toward increasing the quality oflife of Brookhaven’s residents, they said.

“We know it’s a need for it because we see it every day. Brookhavenis too pretty of a city to go back rather than forward,” Cameronsaid of some of the neighborhoods that are deteriorating. “I seehow some properties are being neglected, that’s one of the reasonsI’m so strong-headed about wanting to do away with thesedilapidated houses and clean up these lots.”

Bates pointed out that the city is already making efforts to keepneighborhoods clean, and not just on the abandoned propertieslevel.

“We’ve got two or three employees daily picking up paper, wherecitizens should be concerned about not throwing things in theditches, then they complain about aldermen not keeping city clean,”he said. “This committee will try to encourage citizens to helpus.”

Phillips said part of the possibilities the committee is looking atis a trip to Hattiesburg, where there is a code health and safetycourt in place. He said City Attorney Joe Fernald is trying toarrange a trip for the committee to visit and see how itworks.

“At present the city doesn’t have any strong teeth to take it anyfurther than this, so it just goes away,” he said. “I don’tenvision a draconian approach where we’re out fining people, Ithink our approach will be as we respond to complaints. We have tohave an end point that we don’t seem to have now that will addressthese problems.”

The focus of the stabilization efforts will be, among other things,on things like trash and debris, grass and weeds, inoperablevehicles, parking of things like boats and trailers, outsidestorage, fences and abandoned property.

Brookhaven currently has a set of steps for dealing with junky lotsand abandoned properties that ultimately results in the citycleaning up the property and then putting the fine on the propertytaxes.

“We have no other mechanism other than applying it to their taxesand tearing properties down, and in some cases that may be the onlymechanism,” Phillips said. “We’re basically trying to stabilizethese neighborhoods, and bring pride, as well as protectinginvestments and property values. This is not a goal to fine peopleand generate revenue. That’s the last thing we want to do.”

In addition, Cameron said, people just want to be able to feel safein their own homes, and the traffic that tends to come throughabandoned houses can cause quite the opposite effect.

“If you want to sell your house and you’re living next door tosomeone that’s letting their property go and nobody’s doinganything about it, that’s not going to be good,” he said. “Healthhazards also come into play. That’s one of my biggest concerns whywe should try to turn the neighborhoods around, and why we shouldbe able to enforce these ordinances.”

Phillips said the city hopes to find funding and other resourcesthrough grants and groups like Habitat for Humanity, Americorps andother service organizations. But what is really important is thehelp of the citizens, aldermen said.

“We can have meetings day in and day out but if the residents don’thelp us with this problem, it’s everybody’s problem,” Batessaid.