City demolishes dilapidated properties

The loud noises you may have heard around town came from the bulldozers tearing down old properties. The City of Olney has been hard at work these past few weeks tearing down dilapidated buildings and cleaning up vacant lots. It’s all part of the new attitude in City Hall to restore beauty to Olney again.

After speaking with Neal Welch who recently took over the office of Olney City Administrator, it was clear that the Olney City Council is motivated to return Olney back to the beautiful town from yesteryear.

In addition, Mr. Welch says the city is trying to eliminate those unsafe structures to keep people who do not belong in these structures out of them. Mr. Welch said there is a legal process that must be followed which includes inspecting the property and taking those findings for consideration before the Olney City Council who will decide if the property is an unsafe structure. If deemed unsafe, the property owner has 30 days to fix the problems and bring the property up to code. If the owner cannot or will not fix the property, tit will be added to the the city’s list of properties for demolition.

Not only is the City tearing down structures, local residents and business owners acquire property for the same reason. Recently, the Over Yonder RV Park at 104 E. Springcreek Road acquired the properties across the street with plans to expand the RV park. Over Yonder is a popular RV park for hunters that come from all over the nation to hunt in Olney’s rich hunting grounds.