Palestine resident tells council he plans to clean up property
A Palestine resident whose property was discussed at last month’s council meeting told city officials recently that he felt it was unfair for him to be singled out in their discussion regarding cleanliness in the city.
Stan Getchel, who lives on Sulcer Street, told the council he is trying to clean his property, but stressed that others living along that street need to do the same.
"Everybody knows I live beside the ballpark and that I have a lot of stuff," said Getchel. "I have worked my butt off for everything I have so that I can teach a work ethic to my son and daughter that nothing is given to you. If you want something you have to earn it.
“I have a lot of vehicles. Every one of them is tagged and insured except for three of them. One of them, I got not too long ago and it is for sale, which is why it is not tagged and insured, but it can be if that is what I need to do until I sell it. The other two I am building for my daughter's 16th birthday and for when my son graduates. I have my vehicles because that is what our family is into. Sometimes, it gets junky. But when the weather gets right, I get everything cleaned up.”
Getchel took offense to last month’s council story in the Times-Herald in which the condition of the property was discussed.
“To be called out, not by name, in the local newspaper not once, but twice is uncalled for,” said Getchel. “If this city has a problem with me, they need to come to me and tell me they have a problem. If you come to me and tell me that the yard is getting out of hand, then something will be done about it. I am not happy about it. Anytime anyone has ever come to me and asked for help around town, I have been there for them. For that to be ran in the paper the way it was, is really upsetting."
"If I am not mistaken, you have made progress in removal of two or three trailer loads. Is that correct?” asked Palestine Mayor Billy Shafer.
"Normally, I will get a load of stuff when the weather is right where I can get into the dump and I haul it all off," said Getchel. "I am in the process of doing that right now. I have two torn ligaments in my left knee so things are going to slow down because I am getting ready to possibly have surgery on my knee. There is so much more out there than my house."
"I am glad you showed up because there were other people who were addressed also, and to my knowledge, they haven't done anything about the issue," said council member Melanie Gardner. "It wasn't at you personally, because there are plenty of houses down that street
(Continued from Page 1) that were talked about that night. It is a reflection on the city and what our city looks like. When people from out of town come here for ballgames, that is what they see."
"I know it is a reflection on the city, but when you are getting off the interstate, B&E is a reflection on the city," said Getchel. "They are good people, but that is a heck of a lot worse looking than my yard, even on its worst day. Coming in on either end of town you come past the businesses that have equipment stacked up and trash piles everywhere. But that didn't make it into the paper. Only the stuff regarding Sulcer Street did."
"As Councilman (Derrick) Boileau said, we have no control over what is put into the paper," said Gardner. "What is said here among us is public information and we can't help what is reported."
"The way I took it, was that it was almost pointed directly at me," said Getchel. "You may say that is me feeling guilty about it. Yes, a little bit. I don't like when my yard gets like that, but I do the best I can with the time I am given. I am not worried about my yard. I want to spend time with my family and go places and do things. If people are worried about my yard or me then they have too much time on their hands worrying about other things rather than what they need to be worried about."
"You have a coffin in your front yard, Stan," said Boileau.
"I sure do and it is my right to have it there," replied Getchel. "It's not against city ordinance."
"I have to ask, what is the point of the coffin?” said Boileau. "That is kind of morbid."
"It is disrespectful is what it is," added Gardner.
"I am for you," said Boileau. "Like you said, that coffin is not against city ordinance and unless somebody is popping up out of it, there is nothing we can do about it. You can decorate however you want."
"I can say that after it was printed in the newspaper, several people from Forrest City actually drove to Palestine to see what the fuss was about," said Gardner. "I had several call me and tell me that they totally agreed with this being brought up. When other people from other towns come here, we don't want them to leave our town thinking ‘wow.’ Like I said though, there are several places that need to be addressed."
"We have to start somewhere," said councilman Gary Gore. "There were no intentions of singling you out. I believe that we have to do this for every issue we find. Nobody on this council had any intention of singling any one person out. We have a job to do and that is to clean up the town and keep it clean. The key word about what is going on here, at your place, your neighbor’s place, the person who drives by you, is that you have some integrity about you. There is a certain part of you that has to be there somewhere. It is about your own place and those around you. The key is to have respect for the place and the town you live in. Respect where you live and your neighbors. It's as simple as it can be. We don't want to get into a fussing match. It is that simple word – respect. We respect you for coming, you respect our situation.
“We were elected by the people of this town to keep it up and to do certain things that are unpleasant at times,” Gore continued. “This time, it affects you. This is a situation that we have to work through. All we ask is that you start cleaning up. I haven't been by there and I have no reason to go unless my niece is playing ball."
Getchel told the council he is working on cleaning up his property, but due to his current physical condition, it is taking time.
"I have been working on getting it cleaned up," said Getchel. "I have full intentions to get it all done, but I can't do it by myself. It is going to take a bit of time with my knee the way that it is, but I am working on getting everything all cleaned up and it will stay cleaned up."
In other business, city attorney Jennifer Collins told the group that progress is being made on the city’s annexation of the CR Smalls property.
Collins said the petition to annex the property is ready, but she was waiting on other paperwork to arrive before continuing the work.
"I have the petition. I am waiting on the title check, but it will come back fine because I have the deed," said Collins. "We have to attach it to the certified letter from the surveyor. Paul Gunn and I have gone over the property as well. Because we remitted the road to the county, we have to make sure there will be no enclave when we add the property back into the city. Once everything is done, the council will have to do an ordinance to accept it into the city. The notice will run once a week for three consecutive weeks in the newspaper. It should be ready at the meeting in June."
Palestine A&P member Glenn Gore told the council about a planned dedication of the city's new Veterans Memorial Park which is currently under construction.
Gore said the commission is planning a festival for July 3 during which the park would be dedicated.
"On July 3, we are going to have what we have had in the past, which was a Summer on the Square type of festival," said Gore. "It will begin around 2 p.m., and will last through the evening. We are going to have some downtown festivities, and at 4 p.m., we will have the dedication of our Veterans Memorial Park. After that, we will have some live music as well as some activities for children. We will end it that night with some fireworks down at the school so that the people can park at the school and watch the fireworks show."