CEDAR BLUFF — Mayor Ethel Sprouse and the Town Council recently began mailing letters to the owners of the town's worst property eyesores. Last week, Sprouse told The Post the plan is to work east-to-west across a map of Cedar Bluff until a little bit of long-lost community pride is restored.

“The reason we are doing this is to create a better quality of life for the people of Cedar Bluff,” Sprouse said. “We're trying to attract more people, we're trying to attract businesses.”

A generation ago Cedar Bluff was the butt of jokes statewide. Acres and acres of junk cars surrounded a rundown house that sat across the street from the local high school and between the town's two largest churches. Residents and town officials fought for years to overcome the impression that Cedar Bluff was nothing more than an oversized junkyard.

Sprouse hopes to see that same type of fight from the citizens of Cedar Bluff this time around, too.

“The way some parts of town look now—”, Sprouse stopped, then started again. “When someone comes to Cedar Bluff we want them to see what a beautiful area it is. We don't want them to see trash, we don't want them to see run-down property.”

The Council's first crack at cleaning up began in 2004, around the same time the Baptists and Methodists got together to purchase what was left of the old junk lot. (Today, the area between the churches is a shaded park, with concrete curbs and thick, green grass.)

An ordinance was passed in 2005, but its reach was severely limited, Sprouse said. Ultimately, Sprouse and the current Town Council realized they needed a new law with more teeth to really make a difference.

“The old 'lien and green' ordinance was not enforceable,” Sprouse said. “We had situations where people ignored our letters and we couldn't take them to court.”

Sprouse insisted the town isn't looking to create problems for residents. She said the plan for the new ordinance is to work with anyone who is ultimately willing to do the right thing.

“Our goal is to clean up the town of Cedar Bluff,” she said. “We don't want to put an undue hardship on anyone. There are a few who don't understand what we are trying to do but we hope to bring them along.”

Sprouse said the new ordinance, officially called the International Building Code Property Maintenance Code, has been proven to work in other places. She said she hopes to see similar results in Cedar Bluff—and sooner rather than later.

“We hope that over a two-year period of time—maybe even sooner—that we will have been able to go all through every street in Cedar Bluff and evaluate,” Sprouse said. “We are starting with the foreclosed trailer park on County Road 131. They've already gotten their letter.”

Sprouse said policemen will act as the town's initial set of eyes.

“They are the ones who will be conducting the visual inspections during their patrols,” Sprouse said. “They have all had training and if they have any questions they can call our building inspector and he can come and make any decisions that need to be made.”

As the officers make their rounds, more letters alerting property owners of substandard structures will make their way into the mail. Sprouse said the letters will spell out the violation and explain the process for getting compliant with the town's new ordinance. Anyone who receives a letter will have 30 days to act.

“After the 30-day period is up, if they have made substantial improvements the police department won't issue a citation,” Sprouse said. “If they get a citation they will have to go to court and there are fines for non-compliance.”

Sprouse said anyone who ignores a letter this time around will incur a daily fine until the necessary changes are made.

“Our goal is not to get into court, our goal is to work with the owners so they will bring the property up to code,” she said.

Sprouse reiterated that the plan is to work east-to-west, but she also encouraged anyone who knows of a problem area to pick up the phone and call Town Hall immediately.

“As people are learning this is what we are doing they are calling in and we encourage them to,” she said. “They can call in anonymously. We want to get the worst places taken care of as quickly as possible.”

Sprouse said she hopes that, over time, the new ordinance that the Council worked so hard on will prove be a huge benefit.

“We hope that as we encourage people to take care of their houses and their yards that they will get some civic pride,” she said. “We have a lot of people who want to make Cedar Bluff a better place to live. If we can bring the community together we can get it cleaned up.”

Asked if she expected any blowback from residents over the new ordinance and its enforcement, Sprouse wouldn't rule it out but make it clear that she certainly hoped not.

“This improves their property values, makes their houses more marketable, makes the town more beautiful,” Sprouse said. “I think most people are behind us.”