Tyler

By ADRIENNE GRAHAM
Staff Writer

City officials announced the launch of a Pro-Active Code Enforcement (PACE) program aimed at cleaning up Tyler’s appearance, during a regular city council meeting on Wednesday.

The city’s code enforcement department will team up with field employees from multiple city departments to inspect and report code violations such as graffiti, junk cars and overgrown weeds throughout the city.

“If we want our city to be more inviting, we have to do something ourselves. One of the things we can do is clean it up,” Councilman Donald Sanders said.

The city will be divided into inspection zones of 450-800 houses and each field employee will inspect an assigned area every three months, Code Enforcement Department Leader Dan Brotton said.

Field employees will notify violators of the problem on location and by mail-notice in most cases, then turn over a violation report to the Code Enforcement Department for follow up, he said.

Brotton said he plans to mail out brochures, utilize advertising and hold neighborhood meetings to inform citizens on what constitutes a violation and how to how to report one.

“Community awareness is key to the success of this program,” he said.

Brotton said the most common code violations in Tyler include trashed lots, high weeds and grass, substandard structures, junk vehicles, graffiti, illegal dumping, oversized commercial vehicle storage, improper signage and poor parking surfaces.

Through neighborhood meetings, Brotton hopes to recruit “citizen task forces” that will help report violations that might pop up between scheduled inspections.

“We are asking for volunteers to patrol our neighborhoods—church groups, neighborhood associations or citizens that just want to help,” he said.

Mayor Joey Seeber said the push for code enforcement is an effort to keep on track with Tyler 21 master plan goals.

“There is a huge emphasis in this year’s budget on code enforcement. We want the citizens to know what an effort we will be making in the upcoming year to clean things up,” he said.

As part of the program boost, Code Enforcement will hire three new officers and form an internal Code Enforcement Task Force.

“We are empowering the citizens to take part in this program. It is an effort we can all be proud of,” Councilman Ralph Caraway said.

Plans for a series of town meetings on the program in mid-October are being discussed, Brotton said.

During Wednesday’s meeting, council members also approved the proposed $94.9 million city budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year and the proposed property tax rate of 19.9 cents per $100 valuation.

Former mayoral candidate Larry Meckley spoke in opposition of the proposed budget, re-questing that more funds be designated to local non-profit organizations.

This year, property taxes will drop 2.5 cents, from 22.37 cents per $100 valuation, to 19.9 cents per $100 valuation, resulting in a 7.6 percent drop in the average tax bill. And, despite valuation increases, the city will still be collecting less in property taxes than it did 15 years ago.

The adopted budget will go into effect at the beginning of the fiscal year, Oct. 1.

Following the meeting, council members went into executive session to discuss possible litigation concerning the Cascades and Western Rim developments concerning right-of-way to a 16-acre tract of land, but announced no course of action was decided on.

Other actions taken by council members during Wednesday’s meeting include:

Announcement of a special public hearing at 11 a.m. on Oct. 3 to receive comments on the annexation of 34 acres of land in the Briarwood Estates subdivision.

Change zoning at 712 S. Chilton Ave. to allow for the addition of an office at the re-quest of Tim C. Maddox.

Change zoning at 618 E. Line St. to allow for an accounting office at the request of Santos Garcia.

Special use permit to allow a one-chair beauty salon at 2601 S. Cameron at the request of Camela and Shaundrick Williams.

Special use permit to allow for temporary office buildings at 425 McMurry Drive at the request of the Delek Refinery.

Change of zoning for numerous citizens as part of a voluntary, free-rezoning program.

Change of zoning for 820 Baxter Ave. to conform with the property's current use as an office, at the request of Grubb Holdings.

Agreement with Richard Eltife to allow for the use of reserve parking spaces for valet parking.

Extension of contracts for city employee health care plans.

Renewal of contracts for city employee property and casualty insurance plans.

Reimbursement agreement with SUNOCO Pipeline to modify a 12-inch pipeline in as-sociation with the Old Omen Road project.

Agreement between the city and RPN Properties and Marc and Patti Carrol for right of way during Old Omen Road project.

Final payment to J.C. Johnson Construction in the amount of $20,795 for curb and gut-ter repairs.

Approve 9-1-1 District budget for 2007-08 fiscal year.

Grant the Sydney and Goldie Bradford House at 2015 S. College Ave. historic land-mark status.

Payment of $138,744 to Insituform Technologies for emergency repairs to pipes cross-ing Martin Luther King Boulevard and Junior Boulevard and another pipe at 2217 S. Chilton Ave.

Accept an Urban Forestry Partnership $10,000 grant from Texas Forest Services.

Award bids to various companies for these products: General Chemical Corporation for Liquid Aluminum Sulfate; DPC Industries for anhydrous ammonia, 150-pound cylinders of chlorine, one-ton cylinders of chlorine and sulfur dioxide; Altivia Corporation for filter aid polymer and hydrogen peroxide; Pennco Incorporated for fluoride; Austin White Lime Com-pany for pulverized quicklime; Premier Chemicals for magnesium hydroxide; Polydyne Incor-porated for dewatering polymer; FSTI Incorporated for sodium hydroxide; Armor Materials for asphalt and street materials; Transit Mix for ready-mix concrete; Sam R. Hill Lumber Co. for gravel mix and cement; and J & S Sand and Gravel for base repair material.

Purchase two return activated sludge pump impellers for $30,090 from Smith Pump Co.

Accept first-year funding for a comprehensive traffic grant in the amount of $85,153 from the Texas Department of Transportation.

One-year contract with Office Depot for office supplies.

Award bid for paving and drainage improvements at Falkner Park.

Purchase and installation of fencing, benches and tables at Noble E. Young Skate

Purchase a stationary compactor unit for $11,670 from Kee Service Company.

This home in north Tyler is one example of those the city is looking to clean up with a proactive approach to code enforcement. On Wednesday, the city of Tyler adopted the plan, which outlines inspection zones of 450-800 houses for inspections every three months.
((Staff Photo By Jaime R. Carrero))