Trashed-out trailer park finally clean

EDMORE, Mich. (WOOD) - A trashed out trailer park near Edmore in Montcalm County led Target 8 investigators to discover a glitch in state law -- now both are being cleaned up.  

On the land where the trashed-out Edmore Estates Trailer park once stood, about all that's left is the concrete slabs under some nice shade trees.

It's a huge difference from the way the trailer park has looked for a year. It was so bad that strangers used to ask the locals if a meth lab had exploded. They don't expect to hear that question anymore.

The trailer park owner trashed out all the remaining trailers and reportedly sold all the metal to a scrap dealer, leaving mounds of debris that annoyed the neighbors.

Home Township had been after owner Corey Davey to clean it up, but he was in jail. The township ended up taking him to court to get a cleanup order, but it took months.

Then, early this month, a crew showed up.

"I was surprised at how fast they were taking it down," said neighbor Roy Gomez. "They had good equipment."

Gomez had been complaining for a year about the rats, mice and nasty smells. He said the crew hired by the township had the trailer park cleaned up in less than a week.

"They had a bunch of Dumpsters," said Gomez. "I quit counting at 25. I know they kept going out."
 
The township said it picked Gerald Foor contractors, which came in with the low bid of $9,500. That amount and the $5,000 in legal fees will be attached to the property as lien to be paid by the next person who buys the property.

"It's a lot better. I'm glad they did it," said Gomez. "At least I don't get rats so much anymore."

A Target 8 investigation found that even though the State of Michigan regulates mobile home parks, there were no rules about what happens to trailer parks that close.  

That got the attention of State Senator Judy Emmons (R-Sheridan) who has now introduced legislation to require park owners to put up some sort of bond that can be used for cleanup instead of leaving it to the local taxpayers.

Emmons said her bill has been written and introduced. It will likely be assigned to a committee in August.