KANSAS CITY, Mo, - City leaders are getting more aggressive about cleaning up trash and weeks.
And negligent property owners will be paying for it.
A lot near Independence Avenue and Cleveland is one of 280 properties the city is targeting in a ten day period.
"When we got here there were like, 20 couches from the curb to here." said Krystal Pittman, a private contractor hired by the city to clean up dozens of properties.
Pittman also a Kansas City resident who wishes things weren't so trashy.
She added, "I think it's kind of sad that the neighborhood would allow this to go on so long. I know it's the city's job to kind of keep on the trash dumping,"
It will cost property owners a $100 fine, plus the clean up cost, which averages $300 per lot.
Nathan Pare, Manager of the city’s Neighborhood Preservation division, said, "This is more aggressive because we're looking at all the violations that are on a property. The trash, the weeds, the sofas, vehicles, and making sure that when the city leaves the lot, that they've cleaned up the nuisance violations, that it's truly cleaned up."
In the past, the city would sent out someone to cut weeds, they would run into trash that they couldn't get through. Now they are finally combining things, sending someone to mow and clean up trash.
"Now there's a push to do things right and do them aggressively." said Pare.
The city council budgeted more money this year for clean up and weed cutting.
But the city created part of the problem when it changed the bulky item pickup to an appointment basis, rather than regular pickups.
Residents say that change has created dumping grounds.
"More dumping. They don't have anywhere else to dump it so they're doing it here." said James Nevels, a home owner.
The push is on right now because a new budget year just started. The clean up program had run out of money last fall.
