Junk tires frustrate neighbors - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Junk tires frustrate neighbors

Kimberly Goodman Kimberly Goodman

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October 31, 2003

Dougherty County--  The family of four moved into a new home and found more than one thousand old tires stacked up on their neighbor's property. The family is worried for their health, the tires are cozy homes for blood sucking mosquitoes.

So, what's being done to solve the problem?

Ants, spiders, snakes and mosquitoes all have a happy home right here. Kimberly Goodman and her family noticed these piles of tires, about 1,500, in February.

This mother says it's not only an eye sore-- she's worried about West Nile Virus. The tires hold a lot of water, perfect breading grounds for mosquitoes. "I don't want to keep a house for them with all these tires," she said.

Goodman has filed several complaints against the property owner. "Nobody has bothered to do anything througout the whole summer."

The wooded area on Harris Road in Dougherty County is owned by Barbara Turner. Turner tells us she didn't know about the tires until she got a DNR violation letter in August. The letter states, "No person may store more than 100 scrap tires anywhere in this state."

Turner's deadline to remove them was no later than October 10th. She's three weeks overdue.

Chief Code Enforcement Officer Robert Carter talked to Turner for the first time this week. "Is in the process of requesting an extension of that time period."

Goodman's complaint was not the first. A complaint was made a few years ago, but nothing was done. " I came in this position in September, we're making some changes and we're going to try to make more aggressive actions as these things are brought to our attention," said Carter.

Barbara Turner says the tires are not hers and she doesn't know who put them here. She'll have to come up with the money to get rid of them because property owners are responsible for debris even if it was dumped. If those tires are not removed, Turner will get a second notice of violation.

Eventually if the problem is not corrected she would go before a judge and could be fined up to $25,000. The Code Enforcement Agent and a representative from Keep Dougherty Beautiful are meeting Tuesday morning to see if there is a grant available to help Turner pay for the tire removal service.

posted at 5:35PM by dave.miller@walb.com