Junky Bronson Lot Remains Blighted; Owner in Jail

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Report

Bronson officials continue to work on cleaning up a junky area directly behind the U.S. Post office that most people agree is an eyesore, but town officials have run into a couple of unusual roadblocks.

Town Councilman Aaron Edmondson visited 418 N. Pine Street a month ago to look at the junk and trash conditions and was forced to leave when a homeless man called the Levy County Sheriff’s Office to complain about him.

The homeless man has been known to spend nights at the location and apparently objected to Edmondson being there. Edmondson wants the site cleaned up.

Town Manager Susan Beaudet wrote letters to property owner Jackie Mitchem on Dec. 29 and Feb. 9 saying he needed to clean up the site, but she never received a response from Mitchem.

It’s not clear why he didn’t respond to the first letter, but Mitchem ran into some hard luck on Feb. 5, 2022, when the sheriff’s office arrested him for a probation violation. He is being held at the Levy County Jail without bond.

His incarceration at the jail may or may not have factored into his lack of response to the second letter.

The junky area on N. Pine Street is located under a grove of oak trees and was for many years a gathering place for men in the black community, but it gradually degraded as drugs, fights, and drinking became issues.

It looks abandoned. What’s left is a couch, trash cans, what appears to be an old grill, a burn pile, and now trash bags stuffed with trash.

Lt. Scott Tummond of the sheriff’s office said he is familiar with the location. He says it has always been an issue. He was asked if the site was plagued by drug dealing.

“That’s always been a location with issues. It kind of ebbs and flows over there a little bit. I don’t know if our drug task force guys have anything going on over there or not. I can tell you from 28 years of experience it’s always been an issue – drug dealing, public drinking, fights – it all runs together kind of thing,” Tummond said.

The homeless man who called deputies and forced a town councilman to leave the site may have legal standing to live there if the property owner doesn’t force him out. Tummond was asked if the homeless man could be removed from the location.

“We could always have an overture from the property owner saying, hey, that individual is not allowed on my property, please remove him, but Jackie Mitchem’s not going to remove him. He’s never said someone is not allowed on the property, not to my knowledge,” Tummond said.

Regarding the trash and junk at the site, the town manager’s first letter to Mitchem on Dec. 29 indicated the town had received a complaint from a resident regarding trash and debris at 418 N. Pine Street.

“As you can see from the enclosed photos, there are several abandoned sofas, chairs, a grill and a host of trash, and debris on the premises,” Beaudet said. “For your information, the Town of Bronson recently adopted the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code which regulates the minimum maintenance requirements for vacant structures and land.”

The code says vacant structures and premises or vacant land shall be maintained in a clean, safe, secure, and sanitary condition so as not to cause a blighting problem, Beaudet wrote.

“As a result, we are requesting you remove all the trash and debris from the premises (or advise of your intention with regard to 418 N. Pine Street) by the close of business on January 26. If the trash and debris are not removed by the close of business on Jan. 26, you will be in violation of the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code, and corrective action may be taken against you as the property owner,” she wrote.

In her Feb. 9 letter, she thanked Mitchem for “preliminary clearing of trash and debris from the site but added that trash and debris remain on the site.

“As such, the location continues to be identified as a cause of concern at town council meetings. Several members of the council feel as though the trash and debris are an eyesore when we are doing our best to eliminate societal blight throughout the town,” Beaudet wrote.

“At your expense, the town is willing to remove the trash and debris from the premises, but I need your permission in order to move forward,” she said.

Beaudet said she’s trying to work with Mitchem to clean up the property but she isn’t willing to go to the jail to have him sign a form allowing the city to clean up the property.

“If I can get Jackie’s permission, we’ll go out and do it and charge him accordingly for cleaning it up,” she said.