> SOUTHERN INDIANA — Last week Mayor Doug England had a public forum to take questions about problems that the citizens of New Albany were having.

Several topics were covered at the event with various department heads available to immediately answer the questions and come up with possible solutions. Problems dealing with crime, storm water problems and general cleanliness were discussed with the mayor explaining what could be done and coming up with a time frame for results to be completed.

Crime has been an issue in New Albany for several years but seems to have gotten worse more recently with the issues surrounding the economy. The mayor made it clear that public service budgets needed to be solidified so that the police department had the manpower to get their jobs done. A plan to use Economic Development Income Tax was brought before the New Albany city council several months ago but has been on hold until the 2010 budget was approved. Now that the current year budget has been returned it is time to move on this plan to hire the officers that are needed so that staffing levels are where they need to be to fight the crime that is plaguing our city.    

Drainage and storm water issues have plagued our city for a generation. The last couple of years have been exceptionally bad due to very heavy rains that have led to several problems across New Albany. Our aging systems to remove rainwater from our neighborhoods have been overly burdened and the antiquated infrastructure is in constant need of repairs. Many of our creeks and streams regularly overflow during a modest rain and cause trouble to residents who have put up with multiple floods during the last year. With a recent increase in storm water and sewer fees it should now be possible to finally solve some of these problems.

The cleanliness of our city was a major topic of discussion at the forum.

Several specific problems were addressed and some possible solutions were discussed. Many problems have been attributed to vacant properties that are sitting idle with absolutely no maintenance being performed. One property was said to be on the verge of collapsing and a neighbor said that it has been vacant for more than 20 years. Building Commissioner David Brewer said he was aware of the problem and vowed to get to the bottom of it immediately.

I had seen Mr. Brewer at a city council meeting a few months ago and I actually commented on how gung ho he seemed. He has only been on the job for a few months but he seems to have hit the ground running. If his enthusiasm for his job does not subside I am sure we will see a huge difference in the cleanliness of our city very quickly.

Another reason cited for cleanliness problems in New Albany were under-maintained rental properties. While there are many people out there who are responsible landlords that keep their properties properly maintained, there are others who have neglected their investment and are just trying to squeeze every dollar out of them. Some of the worst offenders are not even residents of New Albany and have no stake in our community.

In the past there has been a push from England’s administration to start a landlord registration system to expedite the communication process when code problems are discovered. The plan, which was met with some resistance from some local Realtors was brought before the city council but didn’t get much traction. A committee was formed but no further action was ever taken. A local Realtor was present at the meeting and the mayor asked if he felt the local Realtor association could get behind the registration plan. The Realtor said if it was presented to the association as a way cleaning up New Albany he could see no reason why they would not support it. He also noted that much of the previous resistance was from Realtors who own many local properties.

The cleanliness of New Albany is not relegated to rental properties alone. Some personal responsibility is in order help maintain our city’s cleanliness. Local code enforcement officers must be given the tools they need to do their job’s properly and there needs to be a mechanism for correcting the problems more expeditiously.

I would like to thank the mayor for taking the time to speak to the public about the problems they feel are plaguing this city. Many times this type of town hall meeting becomes just a gripe session for people to complain about the administration and nothing constructive ever comes of it. I felt like the Mayor and the department heads were sincere in their willingness to listen to our problems and come up with actual solutions. I would hope that he will continue to have meetings like this so that New Albany can continue to improve and be the best city that it can be.        

Matthew Nash knows that not all problems can be solved by talking about them, but it’s a good start. He can be reached at dmatthewnash@gmail.com