Austell's Making Strides to Clean Up City

Austell's newest city council member is making good on her campaign promises to help clean up the city so that it can attract new businesses.

On Wednesday, Austell City Council members and Mayor Joe Jerkins met to discuss solutions for cars without proper tags, tarps draped over improperly stored items and unkempt properties, according to the Marietta Daily Journal.

At-Large Post 2 City Councilwoman Suzanne Thomason called the meeting.

Thomason told South Cobb Patch that it's something she and others had been thinking of since January.

"We thought, we have got to do something...So I just took the bull by the horns," she said.

The council plans to address improperly used tarps first. At its Aug. 6 council meeting, members are expected to adopt the city's first new ordinance in a decade.

The ordinance, modeled after a similar one in Powder Springs, prohibits “Any tarp, plastic sheeting, or other temporary covering on any dwelling house, building, fence, billboard, or other structure for a period of greater than 10 days.”

However, the ordinance would not apply to any temporary covering being properly used during construction or maintenance.

If the ordinance is approved at the council's August meeting, anyone who violates the ordinance will be notified by letter from an Austell Code Enforcement officer. If the violation is not resolved within 10 days, the property owner will need to appear in court before a judge who will either issue a $1,000 fine or jail time, according to the newspaper.

Thomason said, "Everybody was in agreement" that the new ordinance would benefit the city overall. "This was the main thing that we did not have an ordinance for."

What do you think about the possible new ordinance? Is it a step in the right direction for Austell? Leave your comments below.