Spring cleaning going full force in Whiteville

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

The City of Whiteville is cleaning house, and a number of residents are helping.

The city will continue to collect large items like furniture and white goods through Friday, and litter collection efforts will continue through the same day. At the same time, the city is stepping up code enforcement on several properties on the west side and elsewhere.

City Manager Joshua Ray said response to the city’s volunteer cleanup effort has been “great.”

“We’ve had quite a few calls,” he said, from citizens requesting pickup of large items that are not usually gathered by trash trucks, and are difficult for some citizens to transport to area disposal sites.

“We’ve had piles of recliners, old carpet, appliances, TVs – a little of everything,” he said.

Oil, paint, and demolition debris are not on the city’s pickup list, Ray said, “but almost anything else that gets to the curb will be carried off.”

“We ask people to call us if they have any questions about what we will or won’t pick up,” he said. “This is the basic stuff that takes up a lot of space, and can be hard to carry off. This way, citizens don’t have to carry it off – the city’s doing it for you.”

Volunteers have also gathered dozens of bags of trash from area streets. The bags, which were distributed by city hall, are then left at the curb for pickup by a city truck.

“We’ve had good response,” Ray said.

In an unrelated clean-up issue, Ray said the city is working with several property owners to remove or secure derelict houses on Spivey Road, McKenzie Street, and at other locations. He said the owner of an abandoned home on West Williamson Street will be “handling the problem shortly.”

When a municipal government takes code enforcement action against a property, the city or town either secures or tears down the building, then bills the owner. If the bill is not paid, the amount due can be placed as a lien against the property, which the city can then sell at auction for the costs of demolition or cleaning.

“We have set a deadline,” Ray said, referring to each of the houses, “and that’s it. Either the owner can take some action, or the city will.”