Make TBO Your Home Page| Subscribe To The Paper| Advertise With Us| Contact Us| Login| Edit Profile| Register
Suncoast Pasco News
Email
Print
Pasco Wants Inmates To Clean Yards Of Foreclosed Homes
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: August 12, 2008
DADE CITY - Pasco County officials will ask for permission to use county jail inmates to help clean and mow lots of foreclosed homes that have fallen into disrepair.
"We've got to get in front of this," Commissioner Michael Cox said today in bringing up the issue. "Last I heard there were 6,000 homes in foreclosure" In Pasco, he said.
Such cases often require more than simply mowing tall grass, Cox said after talking with Richard Ortiz, Pasco's code enforcement manager.
Often discarded appliances, swing sets and other junk might litter the lawn of the abandoned homes, Cox learned.
Plus, he said, pools at some foreclosed homes have been neglected. It can cost the county hundreds of dollars to hire a contractor to do the work.
Then the county must wait to get its money back from a lien placed on the home, Cox said.
He suggested asking inmates to volunteer for junk-yard work detail as a way to get out of jail cells for a day. The county perhaps could hire an off-duty corrections officer to supervise the inmates, Cox said.
Safety Town largely was built with prisoners on volunteer work details, Cox recalled. Safety Town, on S.R. 52, west of Suncoast Parkway, uses miniature buildings and streets to teach safety lessons to area students.
"It worked quite nicely, too, didn't it?" Commissioner Ann Hildebrand said about the Safety Town inmate work details.
"I think that would be a big help," Hildebrand said about inmate labor on junky yards. That would stretch county funds, which have dipped to $7,000 to clean up neglected lots.
Since "steel is worth money now," the county could collect and sell junk appliances to recyclers, Commission Chairman Ted Schrader observed.
Some residents who take good care of their homes must live next door to abandoned homes in foreclosures, Commissioner Pat Mulieri observed. She's seen grass growing taller than limits in county regulations.
Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online ©2009 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company. Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
