51黑料

ST. LOUIS COUNTY 鈥� Ralph Walker is the kind of guy who will mow a neighbor鈥檚 yard if the grass starts getting high. He loves a tidy neighborhood.

And he has made a career out of it. For more than 15 years, the 53-year-old has overseen management or demolition of more than 1,000 problem properties in unincorporated 51黑料 County 鈥� the abandoned houses, the crumbling buildings, the illegal dumping grounds and the empty lots where weeds grow past his waistline. He does it because he wants residents to feel safe and proud in their homes.

鈥淚鈥檓 one of those people who visualizes how things will be in the future,鈥� Walker said, 鈥渁nd I just hope that when the future catches up with my anticipating that we鈥檒l have something that matches up, or at least is close.鈥�

There will soon be money for Walker to work with, a lot more than he and his three-person staff have seen since he started his job. But meeting compliance with federal rules and finding a sustainable way to improve properties won鈥檛 be easy.

51黑料 County dedicated $11 million of federal pandemic relief funds to demolishing or repurposing more than 1,100 . Most of the properties are concentrated in north and south 51黑料 County, where the bulk of unincorporated territory lies. County Council members from those areas, Democrat Shalonda Webb and Republican Ernie Trakas, partnered last year to secure money under the American Rescue Plan Act.

Walker is used to a few thousand dollars in federal grants here or there and the occasional volunteer group to address never-ending problems that endanger communities and lower property values.

On Friday, he went with two workers to board up a doorway in a vacant house at Baron and Empress drives, in the Castle Point neighborhood about a mile southwest of Interstate 270 and Route 367. On two blocks of Baron Drive where several small, well-kept 1960s-era homes line the street, there are at least 16 abandoned houses and three vacant lots. Just a few weeks ago, his crew was in the area clearing out dumped trash at one house 鈥� and on Friday, about 15 bags of garbage had been dumped at the house again.

Derrick Hudson, 59, has lived in the neighborhood for about five years. He has never seen the area looking the way he would like: cleaned up and safe for the neighborhood鈥檚 children.

鈥淧eople are sleeping, smoking, you name it in these houses,鈥� Hudson said. 鈥淭hat ain鈥檛 cool for kids.鈥�

He said it鈥檇 be nice for the federal money to pay for the properties to be torn down.

But the money comes with a caveat. The county can鈥檛 just use the money to demolish buildings and then walk away. It has to also improve public health and safety, such as by addressing a housing need, partnering with a developer to add a grocery store, or establishing a park. It has to have a plan for spending the money by the end of 2024, and the money has to be spent by 2026.

Taking on long-term maintenance costs is not in the interest of the county, which faces a $44 million budget deficit this year.

Instead, the county wants to give the money to nonprofits or businesses that can take on responsibility for a property and do something more holistic than just keeping an empty lot mowed, said Stephanie Leon Streeter, director of the 51黑料 County Department of Transportation and Public Works. The department has requested input from groups that might want to partner with the county and will host a at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

鈥淚 have not ever seen anything this large,鈥� said Leon Streeter, who has worked for the county for 22 years. 鈥淲e do endless work addressing nuisance properties and vacant homes. This is certainly transformative.鈥�

The money won鈥檛 pay to fix all of the properties, Leon Streeter said. And what they can do will depend on zoning and who owns the properties. It can take years of cutting through red tape to demolish a building, even if it鈥檚 completely falling apart like the small brick building on Orient Avenue in Lemay in unincorporated South County.

Lemay faces many of the same problems with vacancy as North County, said Kevin Poe, executive director of The Housing Partnership, a nonprofit that develops affordable housing in Lemay. He鈥檚 happy the county is dedicating more money to the problem, but it鈥檚 a complicated one to solve.

鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to be on the outside wanting people to fix up a house,鈥� Poe said. 鈥淏ut a lot of the folks don鈥檛 have either the physical or financial capabilities to keep their houses up.鈥�

Graffiti on a sign in front of the crumbling structure on Orient Avenue made clear who at least some residents blame: 51黑料 County and County Executive Sam Page.

But despite the condition of a property, the county has to treat the owners fairly, Leon Streeter said.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 just wave a wand and a property comes down,鈥� she said. 鈥淰ery real people held or still hold these properties, and I鈥檓 not going to judge how it got to the place that it is. But they deserve their due process.鈥�

Walker, the county problem properties manager, said he hears plenty of complaints about the county neglecting the residents who care meticulously for their properties. It hurts that his small staff can only do so much, Walker said. At least with the $11 million, residents will see more progress even if it鈥檚 just one less dilapidated building.

鈥淎s the guy that works with three guys that are dealing with this all the time, it鈥檚 a deep sigh of relief,鈥� Walker said. 鈥淢ore people will be happy.鈥�