New look on U.S. 90

New look on U.S. 90:

"Yet, almost two years after Hurricane Katrina, many commercial buildings along U.S. 90 are still in a ramshackle state. Their owners are either unwilling or unable to remove hurricane debris or repair damage dealt to the buildings by the catastrophic storm.

For the better part of 18 months, local, state and federal agencies have offered assistance in removing hurricane debris and for repairing buildings damaged by Katrina. The owners of those properties, such as the car wash on U.S. 90 in Gautier, should have been able to at least remove the bricks and beams that Katrina toppled on Aug. 29, 2005.

And the onus of this task is not just on property owners. City and county officials also share the responsibility of ensuring that such properties are cleaned up. Local governments have several tools at their disposal to cite the owners of such nuisance properties and, if needed, to clean them up."