A large group of East Brewton residents gathered in the council chambers at East Brewton City Hall Monday evening to voice there concerns about litter, rubbish and general ruin in their neighbor.

With more than a dozen residents from along Mayo Street in attendance at a meeting of the council, the main topic of discussion was the growing issue with trash and rubbish.

“We have some problems there and we need some help,” Mayo Street resident Henry Hooks said. “Mayo is the best street going right up to W.S. Neal High School. We need help cleaning it up.”

Mayor Terry Clark said he had recently been made aware of the situation residents in the area were facing until one resident pointed out the problems.

“I know what you’re talking about now,” Clark told the residents. “I went down the street twice to look at the issues you all are facing there. I can assure you that we are working on the problem as quickly as we can. A citation has already been written and that person will have to address the situation in court. We want to get this situation taken care of for you and the rest of East Brewton, but I ask that you be patient. We have to go by what the law will allow us to do in these situations and it just takes time.”

East Brewton engineer Lawton Shipp said certain conditions and situations require giving the property owner ample time to make adjustments or clean – whichever is required – to the property in any situation.

“By law, we have to give property owners a chance to comply with our ordinances,” Shipp said. “If it is a grass situation, we have to give the owner 14 days after the grass reaches 12 inches high before we can do anything. If it’s debris or overgrown shrubs and things like that, we have to give them 30 days after they’ve been notified. If it’s houses or structure issues, we have to give them 120 days to do something. It just takes time.”

Other residents spoke out in opposition to the situation and explained how the problem is causing more than an appearance issue in the neighborhood.

For more on this story, see the Wednesday edition of The Brewton Standard.