ROCKINGHAM — A long-neglected property on Mill Road was cleaned up by the county this week.
Planning Director Tracy Parris told the RO in an email that the property “has been ‘red tagged’ or unsafe for occupancy (not a demolition order) and boarded.”
Parris was prompted by the Richmond County Board of Commissioners to give details about the issue during Tuesday night’s meeting.
The subject property sits at the corner of Mill Road and Safie 1st Street in East Rockingham and was noticeable by those traveling between Rockingham and Hamlet, she said.
Parris showed photos from before the property was cleaned, illustrating a derelict mobile home surrounded by trash. She said there was no water, sewer or electric service to the trailer.
“There were people trying to live in that property, there was trash everywhere on that property,” Parris said.
Commissioner Jamie Gathings said he thought there had been two people found dead in the trailer from overdoses. Parris didn’t any deaths, but did say numerous calls 911 calls had been made to the lot over the course of a year.
“We have been working with this project for … at least a year, probably two years, going through the motions, going through general statutes — making sure we dot all the Is, cross all the Ts, send all the notices,” Parris said, adding that locating heirs to the estate is another hurdle.
She credited all those who had a hand in the effort, including the deputies with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the clean-up crew, mentioning Mike Burns by name for the work he put in.
Parris also said that Tessie Caulder-Brigman, director of the Richmond County Animal Shelter, was called out to pick up nearly 20 cats from the site.
Just the day before, RCAS had posted that it was already in need of cat litter and both wet and dry kitten food, as well as bleach.
After picking up the cats, Caulder-Brigman posted to her personal page about the need for litter and boxes, saying that the shleter was "swamped in cats" and requesting patience from the public.
“There’s a lot that goes into these processes,” she continued. “I wish they could happen overnight, but they don’t … I know it's frustrating to neighbors … that something can’t happen as soon as a call is made. Unfortunately, it just can’t.”
Parris said there are many governmental hurdles to overcome just to step foot on the property. Now that the cleanup is done, she said there are still a few more hurdles before the county can demolish the trailer.
Commissioner Andy Grooms asked Parris to send some suggestions to be forwarded to the state legislature to streamline the process “‘cause we’ve got a bunch of these in the county.”
“We need to do a lot more over there, put the tax dollars to work,” Gathings said.
In an email, Parris reitereated that "hese outcomes do not happen overnight."
"They are the result of teamwork, time, and many required steps in the process that can sometimes take months or even years before the public is able to see the results," Parris said. "We understand that waiting can be frustrating for the public and neighboring property owners. I’m glad this resulted in a positive outcome for the cleanup efforts and thankful for the team on site yesterday who helped make it happen."
