9/23/2009 6:20:00 AM
Thurman puts backhoe to work in Cordes Lakes
Cleanup saves $8,000
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Tom Thurman, Yavapai County Board of Supervisors, saves the County money this past week when he volunteers his time and backhoe to clear away debris from a old trailer fire in Cordes Lakes.
Photo courtesy Sue Tone |
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By Sue Tone
Special to the BBN
Although her shiny red horse trailer blocks most of the view of her neighbor's yard, Teresa Harley said she was pleased to be rid of an eyesore.
"It will be nice to get it out of here," Harley said this past Tuesday of the burnt remnants of an old mobile home at the eastern edge of Cordes Lakes.
In the seat of his backhoe, behind his dust mask, Tom Thurman, Yavapai County Board of Supervisors, worked diligently scraping the rubble into piles and stuffing the debris into two roll off trash containers. Several workers with Yavapai County Development Services helped throw brush and scrap lumber into mounds, making it easier to scoop up.
Thurman got involved in the project when Steve Mauk, Land Use manager for YCDS, was preparing to go to the Board to request money for a backhoe operator and equipment to take care of the mess left after a fire destroyed the home about a year ago.
"It would have cost about $10,000 to contract this out," Mauk said. The cost of the two dumpsters came to about $1,000, but Thurman's volunteer work saved the county $8,000-$9,000.
County workers sought the owner of the property for almost a year. The closest they came was finding relatives living in Oklahoma City, Mauk said, and they were not returning calls.
Neighbors had seen several cats occupy the rubble, and Thurman said he came out on Monday and shook the trailer with his backhoe and made a lot of noise. Three cats ran out.
"I shook it again this morning to make sure - I am an animal lover - they had lots of warning to get out. And I went in and looked around. It was nasty, and dangerous for kids playing in and out of it," he said.
When Mauk came to him about needing money for this project, Thurman told him he had a backhoe sitting in his yard, "mainly as an ornament lately," and he offered to do the work himself.
"I took my backhoe down there and did my duty. Hopefully, it doesn't happen too often," he said, adding that clean-up situations occur all over the county and workers get to them as they can.
Harley said she was living across the street from the property when the fire occurred, but now lives to the south. She said Thurman came out Monday to speak with her and other neighbors to let them know about the demolition plans.
Mauk said the county notified local recyclers who came and collected steel, copper pipes and whatever they could use.
"We try to get as much off the ground and into recycling as possible," he said.
Once the filled dumpsters are off the property, Thurman said adult probationers fulfilling community service hours will dispose of smaller pieces left behind and "finalize the lot."
The county calculates the cost of the clean up, which in this case is only the cost of the two dumpsters, and will place a lien on the property in that amount. They will collect whenever the property is sold or settled in probate, Mauk said.
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