Lt. Gov. Gregory Francis walked through Frederiksted with Our Town Frederiksted and representatives of several government agencies Tuesday, pointing out dilapidated structures and discussing ways to encourage property owners to clean up their property.
In a release from his office, Francis said he was aware many officials had promised help in the past but he was "committed to ensuring that our towns are beautiful and safe once more."
Along with him on the walk were personnel from the Historic Preservation Commission and the departments of Fire, Planning and Natural Resources, Health and Public Works. They were there to identify structurally unsafe and hazardous properties. After the walk, Francis said he would seek to use the same measures adopted in Christiansted, where a good many properties were also vacant, overgrown, in disrepair or posed health and safety risks to the community.
“First, we will try to identify and notify the property owners, talk to them to determine their situation, encourage them to take a more active interest in their property and ask them to board up their properties if they don’t have immediate plans,” he said. “This is a serious problem and while we understand not everyone has the financial means to maintain these properties according to historical preservation guidelines; they have become a magnet for squatters and criminals.”
