Help your city out, clean your yard

By Steve Christensen

Whose responsibility is it to clean up the city?
A discussion at last week’s city council meeting delved into that question and the answer is — it is your responsibility.
That’s right it’s your responsibility. If you don’t do it, who’s going to?
Well, that was easy.
Moving on to the next question . . .
But wait, who is “you?”
Most of us have a yard. It’s pretty easy to say who’s  responsible to keep it up. It’s the landowner’s responsibility. But, what if the house is a rental and the actual owner lives in Minnesota? Then whose responsibility does it become? What if the lot is vacant and the landowner hasn’t been seen in years?
And beyond just cleaning up, whose responsible is it to make the city desireable to outsiders?
The city, of course. But wait a minute, do anything you want, but don’t raise my taxes!
The city, county—all government—is being asked to do more with less. In a conversation with Lisa Richens last week, she told me she can’t even find the last time taxes were increased in Price City. Lisa, by the way, is finance director for Price City.
Here’s the good news, taxes in Price City aren’t going to be raised next year, either (the city fiscal year begins July 1). The bad news is, that’s going to put more pressure on city employees to do even more with less.
So, your city taxes aren’t going up. Is it still the city’s responsibility to beautify the community?
The point I’m trying to make is, the question is not as easy to answer as it seems. It goes back to the original answer, it’s your responsibility. It’s everyone’s responsibility. We can’t keep asking the city to do more, but whatever you do, don’t raise taxes.
If we don’t want tax increases, and from the response to the county’s attempts to raise taxes last year, we don’t—then we need to pitch in and make our community a desireable place.
We need to do it.
Price City now employs a police officer charged with compliance. He leaves notes on doors, talks to people, and eventually issues a citation to someone who simply refuses to comply. But, all that takes time. Due process is laborious. Once a landowner has been warned, then how long does he need to comply? 30 days? 60 days? Meanwhile, neighbors must live with an unsightly situation.
The discussion at council meeting led to the suggestion of a town hall meeting. The council is in favor of such a meeting to see just exactly what the public wants and how many people are willing to step up and help make it happen.
That town hall meeting will happen in the near future. But maybe that’s a wake-up call to all of us; pull some weeds, water and mow your lawn, trim your hedges, hide your valuable junk in the back of your yard, pick up the trash—clean up your yard!