Posted: Wednesday, August 5, 2009 8:55 pm

By DONNA RYDER
Messenger Associate Editor
It’s a shame the Union City Council has to spend a majority of its time at meetings talking about properties not being maintained. Those were the sentiments of councilman Bill “Rat” Harrison during Tuesday evening’s brief meeting.
He addressed grass on East Main Street and the rights-of-way on Nailling Drive. He said there are also two homes in the 200-300 block of Dobbins Street needing attention by the city. He said one house is about to fall down and the other, which has a realtor’s sign in the yard, has weeds and grass as tall as the house and the windows have been boarded up. He said the neighbors who take care of their properties should not have to look at such things.
Harrison said he doesn’t un-derstand why the landowners won’t take care of their property. “We’ve been fighting this battle for three years,” he said, adding some property owners keep telling the city they will do something and they never do. He suggested it is time for the city to be stricter.
Councilman Dianne Eskew said she continues to receive calls about properties owned by Obion County. One of those is on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. She said the “properties have not been taken care of and they need to be addressed.”
After the meeting was opened in prayer by city attorney Jim Glasgow Jr., the council:
• Learned from interim city manager Kathy Dillon that amendments to the hotel/motel tax appropriations ordinance were not ready for consideration.
• Received a report from Police Chief Joe Garner on National Night Out activities and was invited to attend one of the seven block parties scheduled Tuesday night as part of the annual event.
• Heard from councilman Billy Jack “B.J.” Cranford that he, Harrison and state Rep. Judy Barker drove around the city with officials from the Tennessee Department of Transportation looking at the condition of the state highways. He said their No. 1 priority is Nailling Drive, followed by First Street. Harrison said the state officials agreed work needs to be done on the highways.
Mayor Terry Hailey said he called Mrs. Barker after traveling on Nailling Drive during the rain recently.
“Judy is trying to do what she can to give us help,” he said.
Associate Editor Donna Ryder can be contacted by e-mail at dryder@ucmessenger.com.
Published in The Messenger 8.5.09