Whacking Down The Weeds, One Alley At A Time

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By Sade Malloy

Summary

An end to eyesores. Prosser has a one-man machine that's cleaning up the mess. He's writing tickets, cutting weeds and tackling graffiti to improve the city.

Story Published: Sep 2, 2009 at 5:33 PM PST

PROSSER -- An end to eyesores. Prosser has a one-man machine that's cleaning up the mess. He's writing tickets, cutting weeds and tackling graffiti to improve the city.

He's a man on mission. Walking down the dirtiest parts of Prosser to put an end to the mess.

Keeping the city clean is Nick Alsbury's full time gig as the only code enforcement officer. Alsbury spent the summer writing tickets and sending out warning letters about garbage, leftover appliances and just plain junk.

There's still a lot of work to be done, some alleys have weeds as tall as trees and growing out of control. It was so bad Alsbury could barely get his truck through.

"Yeah I'll take care of it," says Scott Ritchie, Prosser homeowner. "I'm a homeowner, it's my responsibility."

Scott Ritchie started cutting back his weeds after we told him they were breaking code. Other neighbors weren't so eager.

"If that's the case the city should inform the citizens maybe we can do something," says Joseph Foster, Prosser homeowner.

"It's the city right of way, but the city has it written that you're responsible just like out on the sidewalk," says Alsbury.

Nick says part of the confusion could be from the lack of enforcement.

"I think I've been in the position the longest now and before that it was one person doing three different jobs," says Alsbury.

The lax enforcement is over and if you've got a mess you've been forewarned.