Ask the Mayor

Q - I recently moved back to Terrell after 30 years. I am amazed as to how the residential areas have deteriorated. Trash cans are left at the curbs, junk around the houses, yards are not kept up, houses falling down, cars parked in yards, etc. This used to be a lovely little town. What happened and how can this be resolved? Do we need more ordinances? I am very concerned about this and would like to see some improvement. Thank you.

Answer - The appearance of the City was set as a top priority by the Council last fall and the City Manager and his staff have been working on ways to implement our intentions.

So far here are a few of the things that have been done:

• The heavy brush, weeds, and litter was cleared from the railroad right of way at the entry point to the City at the 80-205 intersection
  
  
• The Council recently put into place a new Neighborhood Integrity Ordinance that is enforced by a newly formed Building and Standards Commission. This Commission has a clear mandate from the Council to clean up our neighborhoods and insure that derelict and dangerous buildings are repaired or demolished. For the first time in our City this Board has the authority to take legal action against owners who will not cooperate with our code enforcement officers.
  
  
• The City Council passed an ordinance that no longer allows residents to park in their yards.

The City Staff can not be everywhere all of the time. We need help from residents to clean up the City and make certain that our City ordinances are being followed. If you have any questions or concerns you can contact the Municipal Development Department during normal business hours at 972-551-6606 or by email .

The Municipal Development Department has established a 24 hour direct hotline number that will take calls from anyone requiring a building inspection, fire marshal inspection or to report a code enforcement complaint. The number is 972-551-6654.

Press 1 for Building Inspections, 2 for Fire Marshall Inspections, and 3 to report code violations or concerns. The code violations can be made anonymously if desired.

Sincerely,

Hal Richards
Mayor

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