South Pittsburg officials want street cleaned up

photo Former South Pittsburg Mayor Mike Killian

SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. - City Commissioner Charles Reynolds wants a crackdown on trash and high grass along a heavily traveled road in South Pittsburg.

Reynolds said Second Street starting at Elm Avenue, which becomes State Highway 156, has become "pitiful to look at."

"We've got a street here that's very busy," he said. "It's not only high weeds, but also trash, junk cars and cars parked on the side of the street. It's everything. This is something I've been complaining about for a long time."

In some spots, drivers can't see oncoming cars when turning onto Second Street because of high grass or cars parked too closely to the road, Reynolds said.

"The grass is getting so high that you can't see over it," he said. "It's pitiful, and it's a mess."

Mayor Mike Killian added, "I would go along with all of that."

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City Administrator Bently Thomas said state workers are supposed to take care of some of the mowing along the road.

"I talked to the [Tennessee Department of Transportation] Right-of-Way Division, and they said [the work] is under contract," he said. "It should be mowed within three or four days."

At the August meeting of the South Pittsburg City Commission, Killian instructed Police Chief Dale Winters to "brush up" the area and begin issuing citations for violations of city ordinances.

"There are [city] code violations all up and down through there," Killian said. "A new broom sweeps clean."

Officials said residents along the road have been asked to clean up trash, move cars and mow high grass for the past few years without the threat of citations.

"We've given them every opportunity in the world," Killian said. "Sometimes being the nice guy just doesn't work."

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