MILLS TOWNSHIP — County Commissioner Pete Hennard gave the Mills Township Blight Ordinance report for 2009 at the Jan. 14 board meeting and it’s clear the township is serious about tackling blight.

“Mills Township has taken an active role going after blight and cleaning up dilapidated homes,” Hennard said. “Mills Township tore down 18 blighted structures in 2009.”

Besides the removal of 18 structures, Hennard’s report shows that 194 blight cases were filed in 2009 and property owners complied with 134 cases, meaning the first or second letter from Mills Township Blight Ordinance Officer Steve Pennington, and in some cases a letter from Supervisor Lloyd Saunders, influenced property owner to take action. Out of all 194 blight cases, only one was turned over to the township attorney and 19 were turned over to the county building and zoning department. All cases turned over the other entities have been closed and 60 cases remain open for assorted reasons.

Saunders told the Herald that Pennington has made a big difference since assuming the part-time position in April of 2009.

And according to Pennington, while much of the blight removal was on side streets, not seen by drivers just passing through, that residents of the township have been receptive of the efforts to clean up Mills Township and the Skidway Lake area.

“I get a lot of comments from people that I’m doing a good job,” Pennington said. “People do notice that there’s a change.”

He said property owners would benefit from the township’s efforts to improve the aesthetics of the township.

“The property values should go up,” Pennington said, adding buyers will also be more prone to buy if blighted structures, such as junk cars or dilapidated mobile homes are removed from properties. “If there a structure on it (property) that’s blighted … it may cost them (buyer) another $2,000 -– $3,000 to tear it down.”

But the blight officer said the credit for successfully removing 18 structures since April of last year should be dispersed to several different people, not only himself.

“There are people who volunteer. … I call them scrappers,” Pennington said. “If the property owner has a structure that has to come down, I’ll give them the number for the scrappers.

“They’ll go in there, if it’s a mobile home, and tear it down for scrap.”

While scrappers work for free, Pennington said a few larger structures that were tore down required paid help. He also added that like the mobile home scrappers, many wrecker services remove junk cars from properties free of charge to the township, opting instead to scrap the vehicle(s) for money.

He said Ogemaw County Jail inmates were also utilized on some of the cleanup projects.

Despite the blight removal success of 2009, Pennington said the work is not over and he continues to work towards cleaning up the township.

“Right now we’re trying to get that old A & W tore down,” he said. “We should get that down by the end of the month.”