By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Code enforcement issues – high grass/weeds, junk vehicles in yards, dilapidated buildings, etc. – have been increasing in Decatur in recent years.
Some of the problems are due to what many would call deadbeat owners while some are due to a property being owned by an investment firm far removed from Decatur.
Then there are the folks who financially cannot properly maintain a property, and those who are being held back physically through no fault of their own.
Those are the property owners the city’s Building/Zoning Superintendent Curt Witte had in mind when he recently introduced to the Decatur Board of Works and Safety a Berne-based organization known as NeighborLink Adams County.
It’s a non-profit group of volunteers who support the idea of neighbors helping neighbors.
Witte, who heads up code enforcement for the city, told the board that “they have helped us out two or three times in the past” and he asked if the board would consider making a donation to NeighborLink Adams County.
After some discussion, it was decided to have Zane Martens (photo), who heads the organization, to come before the board to offer up more details. He is expected to attend the next board meeting, on Sept. 19.
After the meeting, Witte told WZBD.com, “If we encounter a code enforcement issue for someone who can’t afford to fix or abate a nuisance, or is physically not capable of fixing or abating a nuisance, we call NeighborLink to see if there is any way they can help these people.
“So far they have provided two different dumpsters for people to eliminate trash and debris and they have sealed up a couple of buildings with broken windows and missing doors for us. All funded by NeighborLink.”
NeighborLink Network says it was formed in 2008 to help cities around the United States leverage technology to connect vulnerable neighbors falling through the cracks of social service agencies and neighbors looking to self-mobilize themselves to help by using a web-based connection platform.
It has spread to many areas of the country. An organization was launched in Fort Wayne in 2003 after, it says, “a small church community began engaging in intentional acts of service.”
Now there are several NeighborLink groups in Indiana, including the one in Berne led by Martens, since 2013 the owner of Marquis Builders in that community.
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