Cherry Lake issues reach board

Many of the parties involved in an ongoing property maintenance dispute at Cherry Lake came to Thursday's meeting of the Perry County Board.

Neighbor Kathy Livingston asked the board for help in seeking a cleanup of the nearby David Bowling property, the subject of two recent newspaper articles. She unleashed her list of unsightly issues with the property including wrecked and abandoned vehicles, a trailer with logs on them, a horse trailer and what she called "sewage running down the road" in front of the property.

Several chimed in on the issue including solid waste management director Becky Tracy, who said she walked the property earlier this week and that while there are "certainly violations" the voice of reason tells her to work with Bowling and give him until June 1 to correct many of the problems before taking further action. She said he will begin working off of a package of "paperwork" she will be sending him in the coming days.

Sheriff Steve Bareis said his deputies are increaseing patrols to make sure the problems don't spill over onto the public right-of-way and officers are also watching for speeders, etc. as a matter of safety.

Bowling, a tree trimmer by trade, said since moving to the lake he has done nothing but offered help to his neighbors with their problems, but since the property maintenance issues cropped up "one has asked about helping ME." He said some of the cars are salvage vehicles that he is using to get parts from to fix other cars. He said the "sewage" is actually only "gray water" from sinks and bathtubs.

He did point to the more troubling infectious e-coli problems with the nearby lake, which is off limits to everyone. He said he realizes the property is an eyesore that grew in the dead of winter and will be corrected as the temperatures warm.