Barbara Holly sees a different side of Rockdale.
Holly, director of the Development Services Department for the City of Rockdale, sees the weeds, trash, debris and a few other things most people would choose not to remember.
It’s her job.
The department is charged with enforcing city ordinances and a great deal more.
URBAN PLANNING—
Holly has been an urban planner for 33 years and sees her current job as the completion of the urban planning process.
“You start out with the plans, proceed from there to make them a reality and then you’ve got to be sure it complies with the codes you have set,” she said.
That involves a lot of looking for things which don’t measure up.
Holly noted the original city philosophy was to have a “complaint-driven” department “It was basically, someone would see something they’d think was wrong, call up the city and turn it in,” she said.
“That didn’t work very well and you can see why,” she said. “People were afraid to turn in their neighbors because they were fearful of confrontations and wanted neighborhood harmony.”
The system now? “It’s what I see with my own eyes,” she said.
IN THE FIELD—That requires a lot of “in the field” work.
Holly keeps recurring check on 50 to 75 sites and looks for others.
She contacts property owners and advises them of the problems. Those owners then get time to correct the problem.
Punitive action is possible if that doesn’t happen.
“Some people will take action and there are some who don’t,” she said
For many months the city, and now Milam County, have been attempting to clean up property on East Cameron Avenue which has been ruled a “junkyard” in court action.
“That’s at the top of my list,” Holly said, and calls up that list on her office computer to prove it.
It’s a never ending job, especially in rainy springs like this one, when weeds can take over a location quickly.
The city still accepts calls from the public, of course.
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