Council okays privacy fence
By Elizabeth Billips Associate Editor

Junk cars are still visible through gaps in the fence.

Around $6,000 in tax dollars will be spent to block the view of a junkyard.

Monday night, Waynesboro City Council decided to use beautification funds to erect an 8-ft wooden privacy fence along a portion of Twelfth Street.

The fence, which will sit along the city's right-of-way, will block the neighborhood's view of the junk cars at Top Quality Auto.

"We've been kicking this around so long, we've probably spent more than six thousand dollars in time," Mayor Jesse Stone said.

The issue has come up at city council at regular intervals for around four years, and residents around the junk yard continue to make complaints.

A few years ago, the zoning board asked the owners to install slats in cyclone fence and plant trees to help create a visual barrier.

"They've done what's been asked of them," City Administrator Jerry Coalson said.

Councilmen James "Chick" Jones and Curtis Bell disagreed, pointing out that it remains an eyesore, mainly due to missing slats.

"We didn't do our work … we didn't follow through," Jones said. "We just took them for their word, and now we have disgruntled residents."

City council voted 4-1 to construct the fence (Willie Williams was absent), with the sole opposition coming from Curtis Bell. "I still feel like (Top Quality Auto) hasn't done everything they've been asked," he said before the vote. "And now the city's going to pay for it?"