Demolition crews will tear down ten houses on Antioch Road in Macon starting Tuesday morning.
Wanzina Jackson with the Economic & Community Development Department says, "Once the demolition is done, there is a lean that's actually put on the property and the property owner is then provided with a bill as far as the demolition of the property."
Those properties are part of the city's very long demolition to-do list. Jackson says they've targeted around 436 condemned houses throughout Macon.
They've been knocking properties off that list in small doses, totaling around 400 in the past five years.
Jackson says, "There's several different steps that must be done before we even get to this phase as far as the testing and the abatement of property."
Mayor Robert Reichert set a goal to clear out 100 properties a year, and since 2008, he's averaging about 80 instead.
To boost that average, city spokesman Chris Floore says the mayor plans to combine the ongoing demolition efforts with their Five-by-Five plan, their strategy to restore five neighborhoods over five weeks in each of the city's five wards.
Floore says, "So, we're not just cleaning up some of the pieces of those neighborhoods, but we're going to address the blight in some of these neighborhoods."
A viewer sent 13WMAZ postcards with pictures of abandoned houses on Patterson Street. Jackson says those properties are on the city's list, but no demolition date has been set.
She says anyone with concerns about other abandoned houses in Macon should call the Economic & Community Development office at (478) 751-7190.
After the Antioch Road project is complete, Jackson says they will move to the Stinsonville neighborhood in Ward Five.