Time for town to clean up property

Very often, governments have to serve their constituents, even when there seems to be no clear way to pay for those services, especially in emergencies.

It may not feel like an emergency, but a fast-degrading property at 609 Holly Street in Coulee Dam could become one all too quickly, leading to unfortunate but perfect hindsight — after a neighborhood fire or the injury of curious child exploring the charred husk of a house, a photo of which is on page four.

It burned nearly two years ago, yet still sits on the property, a black, stinking hulk that probably is invisibly costing the town, and every property owner in it, money.

How so? For most of us, our homes are our single biggest investment, their value the dominant item in the positive column on our balance sheets. And every one of our neighbors affects that value to some degree. Some properties make the surrounding ones look good, others not so much. And a few can tear down value like termites.

The house on Holly is obviously not good for the properties next door, but the lack of political will to address the problem sends a message about the town that attacks all properties in it just as quietly and insidiously as those little wood-eating insects.

It’s not an easy problem to solve, and it will cost money, about $23,000 according to one contractor asked to bid on the cleanup of the lot, which would likely sell for less than $5,000.

On the flip side, the cleaned up lot would be available for improvements, increasing value and rising tax receipts from it.

Like termites, this is a problem that only gets worse the longer it’s ignored.

It is past time for the town to clean it up.

Scott Hunter

editor and publisher