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Okmulgee woman gets help for a neglected property

By: Pete Knutson

Posted at 6:35 AM, Aug 11, 2022

and last updated 2022-08-11 07:35:09-04

OKMULGEE, Okla. — When you take care of your home and property, it’s frustrating if a neighboring property runs down, seemingly out of control.

Next door, just to the south of her home in Okmulgee, Felecia Lewis says a property has been abandoned, for years, with one small outbuilding still standing.

“It’s stressful. The property is just out of control,” says Felecia.

Thick brush, cover for snakes and rodents, Felecia complains. And even for a man, a stranger, who for a while, was apparently camping out there.

Then, those old dying trees, towering near her home, some branches hanging dangerously close, she says, to her roof.

Felecia fears a storm, or even just fierce Oklahoma winds from the south could topple a tree, and cause it to crash on her home.

‘That’s what I’m really scared of, I barely sleep at night.”

She’s afraid too, of the drought that has plagued the area for months, adding even more to her worries.

“I’m afraid it could catch fire when I’m sleeping in a deep sleep.”

Felecia says she’s complained to the city, with no results.

“This is scary, I wanted to leave, I really did, and just abandon, just like they are doing, neglecting.”

When we called the city, a representative told us they don’t have a record of Felecia’s complaint. But now, they’re adding the neglected property next to her, to the list of those which will be cleaned up.

After all this time, Felecia calls it, a miracle.

“I believe in Jesus, I read the Bible, that’s what calms me down.”

A city rep tells us it’s not as cut and dried as it may appear. A statement from the City of Okmulgee reads:

“The public doesn’t understand that the eye-soar next to them, may be less of a problem than another property on the other side of town. And there’s only so much money to go around.”

As for Felecia, she’s just relieved cleaning up that overgrown, abandoned property close to her home is on the city’s to-do list.

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