Town tells representative of messy property to clean it up

The Belgium Town Board Monday asked a representative from a Lake Church Road property to clean up the parcel.

An Illinois man put the brakes on a deal to buy a lot across the street from 6088 Lake Church Rd. because the property is so messy.

Town Chairman Tom Winker told Joe Neighbours, who said his brother is the property owner but couldn’t attend the meeting since he works second shift, to take care of two junked cars he saw on the property when he drove by on Monday.

“I like your last name and it means just that, being neighborly,” Winker said. “I’m not going to yell but I’m going to talk a little firmly to you.”

Neighbours said neither of the cars are junk. One is running but needs some work and the other belongs to a friend.

“Joe, I’m trying to be very nice here. It looked like there were flat tires on them. I’m not sure if there were licenses on them. If you’re going to keep unlicensed vehicles, they will be under a roof. Not maybe, they will. That’s in our ordinance,” Winker said.

“I’m pretty easy to get along with but this has been something that has been a burr in my saddle. I’m tired of chasing people around for junk vehicles.”

Neighbours said he would pass the word to his brother.

On the general condition of the property, Winker suggested putting in some “elbow grease.”

Neighbours said it’s a work in progress.

“There’s a lot of work we’re doing to it,” he said.

“This is a great community. We love it here. We want to be part of the community in a good way.”

The Illinois man also mentioned 6092 Lake Church Rd. in his complaint because of a junked car. That property owner did not come to the meeting.

Zoning Administrator Charlie Parks at last week’s Plan Commission meeting said rezoning the Lake Church properties, which used to be part of St. Mary’s Catholic Church campus, to single-family residences to make them easier to sell to help the church’s budget was one of the biggest zoning mistakes since he has been there and that the town should learn from it.