Trumann is like a lot of small towns. It's been around for a long time. The town is less prosperous than at some times in its past history. Our downtown has been left mostly empty while businesses have moved to Highway 463 and to the Highway 63 Bypass.

We're like most small towns throughout Arkansas. Our downtown business section is no more and buildings are deteriorating. Some of the properties in our residential sections are also in need of repair. And many properties need to be cleaned up all over town.

"Why can't we clean up our town," people ask me almost on a daily basis. They complain about eyesores in our business district and problems in our residential areas.

And these Trumann residents are right. There are a lot of areas in our city that need to be cleaned up.

Mayor Sheila Walters and Trumann Code Inspector Gary Anderson are making legitimate attempts to help clean up parts of our city. The city has torn down seven dilapidated houses in the city limits since January.

Anderson is in the process of completing paperwork for the removal of others. Due to the fact that many of these houses are in foreclosure or that the owners live out of town, it takes a lot of research to track down owners and contact them about their property.

The process takes time. When a house is finally brought before the council to begin the condemnation process, Anderson has already worked three months on contacting the residence owner and moving the issue through the legal system.

After the council votes for condemnation of the property, the owners have 30 to 90 days to bring the property up to code standards. That means removing a falling down property in town takes six months at best. Some properties have been in the process for years.

Code Inspector Anderson issues citations daily to residences and businesses. Some property owners readily make repairs and clean up. Others, according to Anderson, have to be reminded to keep on task.

The Trumann Chamber of Commerce Marketing Committee, chaired by Anthony Patterson, has been discussing ways to encourage new families to move to Trumann. The committee wants to market Trumann as a good hometown and a great place to raise a family.

One of the main concerns at committee meetings has been that visitors are turned off when they drive down Highway 463 or Speedway when they come to town. The committee has discussed ways of cleaning up the town to present a cleaner image.

The committee has also talked about cleaning up the city ward by ward. It might be possible by focusing on each of the city's five wards to encourage residents to clean up their yards and property.

Trumann City Council members report on problems in their wards at council meetings. And, yes, some wards have more problems than others. Each of Trumann's five wards could use some sprucing up.

A massive clean up campaign throughout the city could not only improve Trumann residential property values and encourage others to settle here, but could de-stress some lives of residents who are forced to see eyesores each day in their neighborhoods.

The question is would local residents gather as a group to clean up Trumann. If you were presented with a project to complete and the tools to complete that project would you show up at the appointed time?

Would it be possible to get church groups, youth groups, service organization members, etc., out to help clean up our town? Some people say yes, some say no.

I think many people would be glad to contribute their time to make Trumann look better. If a project list was compiled and a time to work scheduled, many local residents would step up to help.

Local groups used to sponsor yard of the month contests. Could we honor people for the beauty of their yards again? Could some residents assist senior citizens in cleaning up their property?

There are many ways neighborhoods and the business districts of Trumann could be made better. It will take a will to do the projects and it will take people to help complete projects.

It can be done. It will take cooperation and planning and asking people to come out and help. It's a worthy project.

Now, if only, someone or some group would step up and agree to head such a project.