Junky Bronson Lot Gathering Litter Again

By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

A junk-filled property behind the Bronson Post Office has been the focus of the Bronson Town Council for several months. It was cleaned up a few weeks ago by owner Jackie Mitchem. Town officials were pleased.

But on Sunday, the property was showing signs of being covered with litter again. It appeared someone had been drinking. An empty bottle of hard liquor and other trash littered the ashes of a second burn pile.

Town officials have worked with Mitchem to get the property cleaned up.

A woman who identified herself as Brenda Thompson, who happened to be sitting in the shade enjoying a beer when a Spotlight photographer arrived with a camera Sunday, promised all the litter would be removed by the end of the day.

The property has a colorful history.

There are no permanent residents living on the property. It’s basically an empty lot, but at any given time, there’s likely to be someone relaxing there. The locals know each other.

Thompson was alone. The previous time Spotlight arrived to take a photo of the condition of the property a few weeks ago, a young man was seated in a lawn chair. He was alone and was friendly, but didn’t want to be photographed. He said he was in charge of keeping the property free of trash and litter.

Prior to seeing Thompson Sunday, a teenager was seen carrying a bag of groceries through the property toward a residential area behind it. He apparently had purchased something at the convenience store next door to the Post Office and was headed home.

That’s how it goes on the property behind the Post Office. It’s a fluid piece of property. People come and they go. What has drawn the attention of town officials is the trash, junk, and litter that accumulates.

Mitchem removed the clutter shortly after being released from the Levy County Detention Center for a probation violation a few weeks ago. Except for a couple of old chair springs and the old burn pile, the property looked good then.

Town Manager Susan Beaudet didn’t know the property had been cleaned until Mitchem showed up in her office to say he had removed the old couches, chairs, and assorted trash.

“He had been incarcerated and told he was going to see me when he got out. By the time I saw him it had been cleaned up,” Beaudet said.

Beaudet said she visited the site the day after Mitchem’s visit and saw much improvement.

“It was better than I thought. We’re making some headway,” she said.

The Bronson Town Council wrestled with the question of how they should handle the situation. Councilman Aaron Edmondson initially pushed to have the junk-filled lot cleaned up right away if possible. But Mitchem was in jail at the time. The council decided to let it ride until Mitchem got out to see if he was willing to clean up the lot himself without further prodding.

He cleaned it up.

The site has long been a gathering spot for people in the black community but over the years evolved into a site for drug dealing and other types of crime, according to the Levy County Sheriff’s Office.

The town was hopeful the site would remain clean, but when Spotlight arrived Sunday, a second burn pile was started and the old burn pile was covered with trash too. The two chair springs hadn’t been removed.

Thompson said the whole property would be cleaned up by day’s end.

It seems to be a work in progress.