El Dorado Alderman Willie McGhee is eager to move forward with creating a committee to review and evaluate properties that are recommended for condemnation.
McGhee is calling on other city officials to support the effort, and he is asking anyone who is interested in serving on the committee to call him at 870-314-1441.
The Ward 3 alderman also said that he plans to speak with City Attorney Henry Kinslow to make sure the committee has “some teeth” and that its recommendations carry weight with the El Dorado City Council and Mayor Frank Hash.
“I want to have a committee that can actually make some decisions and get things done, and I hope we don’t get any resistance,” McGhee said.
He has discussed the idea several times during recent city council and finance committee meetings and has asked his fellow aldermen to submit names of people from their respective wards to help round out the committee’s roster.
“I want people from all over El Dorado, all wards. I haven’t gotten any names from any other aldermen yet, but I’m going to check back with them at the next council meeting (Thursday),” McGhee said. “If I don’t get any names then, I’m going to go with the people that I’ve talked to. I feel like we need about 10 to 15 people.”
McGhee said he has spoken with former and current city officials, business owners, property owners and community volunteers who have agreed to serve on the committee.
He has said the purpose of the committee will be three-fold: to assess properties that are recommended for condemnation by City Code Enforcement Officer Kirby Craig; determine if a structure is suitable for rehabilitation and if anyone is interested in purchasing the property and bringing it up to code; and developing a plan to maintain vacant lots if structures are condemned and razed.
McGhee said the committee would help avoid situations such as one that arose last week when the city burned a house that had been on the condemnation list since 2016.
The act heightened an ongoing dispute with the property owners who said they were still living in the house at 1112 Ouachita and did not know the city was preparing to raze the house.
“I had TVs in there, a king size bed, a brand new bed mattress, refrigerator, freezer, washer, dryer, microwave … everything,” Renee McHenry told a News-Times reporter. “I’m just upset.”
“They’re supposed to let us know if someone is still living in the house when they bring it to us for condemning. That’s what this committee will do — make sure there’s nobody living there,” McGhee said.
“Before we take it down, we’ll put it on hold and see if the house can be rehabbed, let the public know about it, take pictures and let the citizens see,” he continued. “They may want to purchase it and rehabilitate it, or if the house can’t be saved and is taken down, maybe we can use that lot for green space. Somebody might want to buy it or adopt it for a community garden.”
McGhee said such a plan would help to address neighborhood blight with overgrown, unsightly lots and concerns and complaints he has heard from citizens about public health and safety.
“Tearing these houses down and leaving the lots to grow up is not the solution,” he said. “There are rats and snakes, and I’ve had people, elderly people say they’re afraid that someone is going to jump out of the bushes.”
Chris Curry, manager of PJ’s Coffee, has volunteered to serve on the committee, and he said he has lots of ideas on how to maintain abandoned lots, including possibly working with the El Dorado School District on student agricultural/environmental projects.
Robert Edmonds, director of public works, said he is also looking forward to joining the committee to explore different options and ideas for abandoned properties in El Dorado.
“I’m excited about working with the committee to see if we can rehabilitate some of these houses, or if someone can adopt these lots, that would be a good thing for El Dorado,” he said.
McGhee said he hopes to have the committee formed within the next month and up and running by the summer.
Tia Lyons may be contacted at 870-862-6611 or by email at [email protected].