Manistee Blight Season Begins, Here’s Who To Contact

“As the snow melts, they can begin their efforts (to) help clean up neighborhoods,” Glass said. “Our officers have been in contact with people even throughout the winter on some burn issues.”

He said officers will be reaching out to residents and enforcing rules to tackle issues like litter in yards, vehicles sitting on private property that don’t work, missing siding and homes that don’t. are not “weatherproof”.

Glass also added that residents can use Republic Services’ Manistee County Landfill to dispose of large items for a fee.

Residents of the Town of Manistee can also use bulky garbage pickup on the first regular day of each month. Another option for Manistee residents to dispose of a loose item is to purchase bulk item tags at Manistee City Hall for $15 per item per tag to be removed. For example, if someone needed three large items picked up, that would be three tags at $15 each, for a total of $45.

“We ask that if you’re going to release a big article, perhaps release it the day before, not a week or two before. Because we are definitely going to get calls about it and our agents are going to answer them,” he explained.

He said officers plan to work with residents to make sure they can access resources to clean up the burn whenever possible, but sometimes people are given citations if issues aren’t resolved.

“Last year two houses were demolished in the town which were destroyed. One was demolished by the owner with the help of the burn agent who advised him on the proper permits and the proper process and worked with him — which is a long, long process,” Glass said. “The other was a residence that was in dire need of tearing down for years.

When asked if the burn initiatives worked, Glass said it helped.

“The burn problem is gone, you don’t see it anymore. All you see is the remaining burn that creates a bit of a perception problem,” Glass said. “But our officers have spent an awful lot of time (on the burn)…they’re doing a terrific job.”

Glass said he plans to report the city’s annual blight statistics to the Manistee City Council on Tuesday.

He noted that council had recently approved an amendment to the city ordinance for a neighborhood restoration and beautification committee.

“This is a new committee that will be working on recommendations to help with blight-related issues in the city,” he said. “We manage the application here (at the department) but I think there are other areas that can help fight the scourge.”

Manistee is divided into eight plague districts with a police officer assigned to each district.

“They are personally invested. Half of the officers live in town,” he said. “They understand the importance of it.”

Glass said people can also just call the police department’s main phone number at 231-723-2533 and people can call anonymously.

“When a neighborhood looks good, it feels good. We feel safe. It creates expectations for the people who live here. It defines the perceptions of people who come here,” he said. “People can be proud to live here and when people visit here we can be proud to have visitors here and that speaks very well of our community.”