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Pachuco
F L I N T O I D
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New citywide cleanup program targets vacant lots at no cost
FLINT, Michigan — As the cash-strapped city of Flint struggles to maintain basic services, a new citywide cleanup program is putting local people to work at no cost to the city.
The Genesee County Land Bank this year is partnering with the city for its weed and trash abatement program, which uses federal stimulus dollars to hire work crews to remove trash and weeds and mow the grass at vacant lots, officials announced Thursday.
The work will be done on properties throughout the entire city, which has been divided into 21 service areas. The crews are scheduled to visit each service area three times through October.
The crews also will board and secure vacant homes citywide as they receive complaints.
The work started this week, and — despite the cold and rainy conditions — crews were cleaning vacant lots in the East Gracelawn Avenue neighborhood on Thursday afternoon. Residents can identify the workers by their new neon T-shirts.
“They’re working very hard helping out their own city,” said Doug Weiland, executive director of the Land Bank. “This is tough, dirty, nasty work.”
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said the city is providing use of the pole barn at its Oak Business Center for equipment storage and as a central work site.
Walling said the program will help Flint become “cleaner and greener.”
“This improves everybody’s home value,” he said. “That helps improve everybody’s quality of life.”
Crew member Adrian Perkins, one of the supervisors of the program, said he was unemployed before he was hired into the program. Workers are paid $10-$12 an hour, he said.
“It’s enough money for people to help their families,” said Perkins, 39, of Flint. “It helps pay the bills.”
The Land Bank employs 60 people in the program, which is currently fully staffed, Weiland said. The Land Bank is talking with Career Alliance about possibly securing more funds to hire more workers, he said.
Walling said the program will complement the city’s upcoming blight elimination pilot program for code enforcement.
Under the administration’s plan, four blight elimination officers would ticket residents for code violations. The tickets would be processed through a new administrative hearings bureau, allowed under a new state law, City Attorney Peter Bade said.
The plan is under consideration by the Flint City Council. |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:37 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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At no cost? Where did the money to buy the equipment and pay the people come from? The taxpayers. That's us. Or, don't you consider tax dollars to be real money?
It's a good way for the land bank to get their properties cleaned up at taxpayers expense. |
_________________
I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 4:45 pm |
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1pissedoffguy
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Pachuco schreef:
New citywide cleanup program targets vacant lots at no cost
FLINT, Michigan — As the cash-strapped city of Flint struggles to maintain basic services, a new citywide cleanup program is putting local people to work at no cost to the city.
The Genesee County Land Bank this year is partnering with the city for its weed and trash abatement program, which uses federal stimulus dollars to hire work crews to remove trash and weeds and mow the grass at vacant lots, officials announced Thursday.
The work will be done on properties throughout the entire city, which has been divided into 21 service areas. The crews are scheduled to visit each service area three times through October.
The crews also will board and secure vacant homes citywide as they receive complaints.
The work started this week, and — despite the cold and rainy conditions — crews were cleaning vacant lots in the East Gracelawn Avenue neighborhood on Thursday afternoon. Residents can identify the workers by their new neon T-shirts.
“They’re working very hard helping out their own city,” said Doug Weiland, executive director of the Land Bank. “This is tough, dirty, nasty work.”
Flint Mayor Dayne Walling said the city is providing use of the pole barn at its Oak Business Center for equipment storage and as a central work site.
Walling said the program will help Flint become “cleaner and greener.”
“This improves everybody’s home value,” he said. “That helps improve everybody’s quality of life.”
Crew member Adrian Perkins, one of the supervisors of the program, said he was unemployed before he was hired into the program. Workers are paid $10-$12 an hour, he said.
“It’s enough money for people to help their families,” said Perkins, 39, of Flint. “It helps pay the bills.”
The Land Bank employs 60 people in the program, which is currently fully staffed, Weiland said. The Land Bank is talking with Career Alliance about possibly securing more funds to hire more workers, he said.
Walling said the program will complement the city’s upcoming blight elimination pilot program for code enforcement.
Under the administration’s plan, four blight elimination officers would ticket residents for code violations. The tickets would be processed through a new administrative hearings bureau, allowed under a new state law, City Attorney Peter Bade said.
The plan is under consideration by the Flint City Council.
Don't know if it is getting leaner, but sure is getting greener! Hey, maybe the city will become a grazing place for herds of cattle! Their manure could be used for the biogas project , their milk and meat could be sold as could their hides. With all the open ground that city is now having created with the tearing down or burning of houses this idea may be very easy to implement.And the out of work people could be taught to ride horses and act as "cowpeople" ( we have to be Politcally Correct ya know) . "Giddy up little doggies !"( why are cows called "doggies" anyway?) |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:56 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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| Pachuco has forgotten that Weiland has said the stimulus money won't go far enough to include all Land Bank properties. What about non Land bank owned properties? |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 7:06 pm |
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Pachuco
F L I N T O I D
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| How have I forgotten anything???? All I did was post a link. |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 7:16 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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NO COST??????
 Now theres the Lib mentality we have all come to know. |
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 8:10 pm |
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