The Park Springs Circle Homeowners’ Association originally gave Pleasant View City a piece of land to be used as a park; but, since May, that piece of land has been used as a dump for trees and limbs. Starting on April 30, 2016, and lasting approximately 24 hours, a storm hit Pleasant View with winds of up to 90 mph, knocking down trees and scattering leaves and limbs. In the wake of the clean-up, Pleasant View City allowed residents to dump their tree and limb debris on this lot.
Homeowner Karen Wade emailed the City with her concerns in May. City Administrator, Melinda Greenwood replied to her concerns on May 11 by saying, “For now, we hope to sort it, remove what can be used as firewood and have that utilized by people that need it. We may also rent a chipper and chip some of the remaining green waste.” She also stated in her reply that a controlled burn was being considered.
When June came, and the pile was still growing larger, Karen reached out to Mayor Toby Mileski and informed him of the problem. She reports that Mayor Mileski told her that he had ordered a City crew to block entry to the dump with a large pile of rocks.
In July, Karen wrote Mayor Toby Mileski to inform him that a Pleasant View City truck kept moving the rocks so people could access the dump. When asked what was being done by Standard News Reporter Cathy McKitrick, Mayor Toby Mileski stated, “The wood is curing before the City puts a match to it. That’s the cheapest option. We’re waiting for a day when it’s not raining, windy or cloudy.” This news brought more concerns, which were raised by both the reporter and the homeowners.
The City intends to burn a six-month-old pile of trees, limbs and brush. In a residential neighborhood, this will affect air quality and the health of people in and around Pleasant View.
“My biggest concern is that when they burn the pile, it might create smoke damage to the houses and we’ll have a big mess of ash,” Karen Wade said. “It’s been up for so long. I think there might be some type of critters living in it. I just wonder where they’re going to go when it gets burned — they’ll probably head this way.” The residents are wondering why this has been such a problem for the City to get resolved.
There also seems to be an issue and dispute over what and how the land was donated. In 2004, Ron Bingham and his wife, Mauria, bought one of the first homes in Park Springs Circle. Bingham served as president of the HOA, and he’s upset about the land that’s now being used as a city dump. “We donated the land to be a park,” Bingham said.
Mayor Toby Mileski says Mr. Bingham is wrong. Where the records are, and what they say for sure, is an unknown at this time. The residents feel there should be logic used in deciding where there should be a green dump area. In a residential area, this should have a limited time frame.
There have been several ideas that have come up over the last few months; with one being that the City at one time had a plan to sort the wood and give it away for home heating and chip the rest. If people burned the wood over several months it would be minimal impact on the area, and chipping would most likely not hurt air quality. The big concern for the area residents is that the deadline for controlled burns ends October 30th, with no clear answers for what the City is going to do. A large fire like this would shock the area residents and may cause damage to their properties.
Park Spring Circle residents feel that Pleasant View needs to get rid of the trees and brush in a way that doesn’t damage public health and private property; and also, resolve the issue of how to use the donated land. If the land was intended as a park, that’s how the City needs to use it.
