Hi Red Phone, Would you know if the Garlic Festival makes any
effort to clean-up trash thrown about the local streets?
“Hi Red Phone, Would you know if the Garlic Festival makes any effort to clean-up trash thrown about the local streets? The sidewalks on Eighth Street from Miller to Princevalle were a mess Sunday morning with discarded wrappers, soda cans, bottles and some broken glass. I love the festival and the business it brings to the community, but I hope the general community does not foot the bill for cleaning the streets during and after the festival.”
Red Phone: Dear Mr. Clean, The Garlic Festival may be over, but there is still a lot of work left to do. There were about 50 volunteers out Monday morning, said Festival President Kirsten Carr. And they could be out there through Wednesday depending on how quickly they can get the area cleaned up, she said.
“Anywhere around the perimeter we pretty much take care of,” Carr said.
Reader, take heart. You won’t have to fork out any dough for the cleanup. The Garlic Festival is responsible for restoring the entire area.
“We are not involved in the clean up of debris left by the Garlic Festival,” said Phil Couchee, the general manager for South Valley Disposal & Recycling.
Homes with weeds
“Red Phone: I have a question about a house on the corner of Ramona and Amanda Way. It’s been vacant for three years. For two of the years, the water and electricity has been cut off. There are no lights in it at night. Kids party in it, they smoke back there, they’re using recreational drugs back there. The problem is that the trees and landscaping are dead. The weeds out front are about four feet tall, they go clear around the block because it’s a corner home. In April, the weed abatement team was notified and they put a notice on the door, but no one’s been out there to follow through.”
and…
“A house in Gilroy on the 7500 block of Laurel Drive has had no one living in it for at least the last seven months and the weeds are as high as the front windows and looks like a fire hazard. Is there a law that states that the owner must keep the landscape up? We try to keep our neighborhood looking nice, and this home is a eye sore and a big fire hazard. The house was for sale for about five months and has now been off the market for the last three months.”
Red Phone: Dear Weeded Out, The issue of abandoned property becoming a fire hazard has become a hot issue recently in light of a fire last week on Las Animas Road. Ironically, the fire was actually started by a tractor driver trying to clear the field.
The city takes property fire hazards seriously. But sometimes it takes a while to find the owner of the property. In cases of abandoned homes, the city sends a weed abatement notice to the bank that is enforceable with an administrative citation, said Jackie Bretschneider, the Gilroy Fire Marshal.
“We have identified Bank of America as holding the property (on Ramona) and sent them a notice,” she said. “The bank has responded and cut the weeds.”
The city maintains land that it owns but requires owners to take care of private property because of the costs.
“It is rare that the city would go to summary abatement on a residential property, but it is possible,” Bretschneider said. “However the cost to the city would be quite high and there is quite a bit of liability in abating residential property.”
As for the home on Laurel, Bretschneider said the city is still in the process of contacting the owners to have it cleaned up.
