Cutting down the 'Hillbilly Barrier'

Scott City officials tell residents to keep up their property, but they can't make the state and railroad to do the same.

Scott City Mayor Tim Porch is tired of sending mixed signals to the residents of his city.

Since the beginning of the summer, Porch has instructed city police to crack down on nuisance violations in the city limits, including high grass in yards. Police have given out hundreds of warnings and tickets, but two repeat offenders are untouchable -- the Missouri Department of Transportation and Union Pacific Railroad.

Tracts of land along the highways and railroad tracks in the city limits have gone neglected throughout the summer. As recently as Wednesday, Johnson grass and other weeds towered over the reflectors that delineate the road boundaries along Interstate 55. The grass has since been cut, but the mayor said the tall grass made the city look dirty and careless.

"That's what people see when they come into Scott City," Porch said. "They place that whole stigma on the town of Scott City. How do you attract a business or someone wanting to buy a house for the first time?"

The land owned by MoDOT and the railroad is some of the town's most visible. MoDOT's land runs along Scott City's Main Street, the primary artery through town, and around the city's outer roads, the interstate and its ramps.

Porch jokingly calls the high grass near the interstate a "hillbilly sound barrier," comparing the grass "walls" to walls along in the interstate highways in suburban St. Louis. But Porch is serious about his frustration.

So is police chief Don Cobb. Cobb has led his department in the campaign against unsightly nuisances, issuing notices to first-time offenders and tickets to repeat violators.

"It's almost a situation like 'Do as I say and not as I do.' It's not acceptable," said Cobb.

Just two weeks ago, Cobb used prisoner labor to mow a 1.8-mile strip along Main Street, partially owned by Union Pacific, partially by MoDOT. The process took about a week. The grass was about 5 feet high.

Normally the city could file liens to recoup the costs of manpower, but not with MoDOT or the railroad. MoDOT is a government entity, and Porch said the railroad is held harmless from such violations.

MoDOT said the overgrown grass is a matter of trade-offs. Crews that would usually take care of mowing have been working on roads as part of the new Smooth Roads Initiative, saving money on contract costs.

"We just haven't had the manpower," said John Statler, maintenance superintendent with MoDOT in Jackson. Statler's crews handle mowing of MoDOT rights of way throughout the area, including Scott City.

Statler said his crews have been spending their days in other parts of Southeast Missouri working on roads like Interstate 57, leaving them no time for mowing.

Mark Davis, a spokesman with Union Pacific, said he wasn't aware of any complaints in Scott City, and that the railroad's contracted mowing service only mows twice a year at most. In dry years, it could only be once.

Porch said the railroad did recently mow its right of way along Main Street for the second time, but not until a bad impression had already been made.

"The railroad is the most visible part of town," Porch said. "When you drive through Scott City, you go down Main Street. Everything is on your left, and weeds and railroad tracks are on your right."

But without the power to ticket the government and a certain big business, the mixed messages will still be sent to city residents.

"It's still a big issue when we have these two high-profile property owners and we're out here fining and giving notice to our taxpaying citizens," Porch said.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182