Iolans and several area town council members are in league when it comes to trying to keep their towns up to snuff and safe.
Monday evening Eddie Radford, who lives in a mobile home in the first block of North Third Street, was given 30 days to demolish the structure and three months to otherwise clean up the property.
Gregg Hutton, code enforcement officer, described the mobile home as a shambles and the property littered with inoperable vehicles and other “trash.”
Hutton’s recommendation was as it should have been.
A messy yard or a vehicle in the midst of repair is one thing, but when a residence is in danger of imploding or being hidden by weeds, brush or trash vicariously thrown about is another matter altogether.
At the top of the list are health issues.
They surface when ground cover, of any sort, is left to its own natural devices, and becomes a haven for rats, mice, snakes, and a large catalog of insects.
Because Iola is rural — nowhere is a residence more than a mile or so from fields — large mammals also venture into town, especially if trash containers spill over.
Man-made means of combating such invasions, poisons in spray or solid form, pose a threat to pets, and even children, whose inquisitiveness may be piqued by an old car, pile of boxes holding intriguing trash or a house with the front door hanging open by one hinge.
A second important consideration is what such messes pose for nearby property values and efforts to attract businesses, industries and residents.
A newcomer driving through town notices blemishes just as much as picture-book lawns and homes.
Radford claimed demolishing his mobile home would make him homeless. If so, there are opportunities for him, and others, to find better quarters and in the lion’s share of cases in circumstances where utility costs and amenities are far more attractive.
IOLA AND Humboldt leaders have talked often about ways to provide more affordable housing as a way to encourage workers who drive to Gates, Russell Stover, B&W and Monarch to consider moving to town.
A first step is to identify places that truly need to be condemned and then razed to make our towns as inviting as possible.
No one wants to live next door to a junk yard, and the sooner we take steps to eliminate them, the better.
And then there are streets, but that is an editorial for another day.
— Bob Johnson
