Fitting its name, it is the Union Township Trustees who are coming together with their residents to clean up the area and make sure eyesores go away.

The trustees recently decided to take a sterner approach with property owners who refuse to clean up junk cars, dilapidated buildings or other eyesores that include weeds and trash.

Other townships in the county have looked at doing the same thing but we are happy to see Union’s leadership going public with this program and issuing a notice to its residents.

This is a tremendous step in the right direction and we hope to see all of Lawrence County’s townships adopt similar approaches that will keep our rural roadways and properties beautiful.

The process is mostly the same for junk cars and abandoned structures, land overgrown with vegetation or covered with trash. The homeowner will be notified and given a time period in which to remedy the situation as appropriate.

If the homeowner ignores the notice, the township will go to court to get the area cleaned up.

The township also adopted a smart policy that says all actions have to be initiated by someone coming to a public meeting and making a formal complaint.

That makes sense and creates an avenue for documentation and also accountability.

Lawrence County has long had a problem with dumping and property maintenance issues. Even in the city of Ironton and the villages, this continues to be a problem.

We hope all municipalities and townships follow Union’s lead and ensure that clearly defined rules are in place and being enforced properly.

Keeping Lawrence County beautiful is something that everyone has stake in and it will take a unified effort to do so.