Bringing City Pride To The Streets: Monessen Holds Annual 'Clean Up Day'

MONESSEN, PA (KDKA) -- Abandoned or overgrown properties can be found in almost any town in the Pittsburgh area, but one of those towns is taking action by passing new ordinances to clean up the community.

"That's our goal to make it as beautiful as it actually is," said Councilwoman Lois A. Thomas.

On Saturday, the city hosted its annual "Clean Up Day" where community members picked up trash along the major thoroughfares.

"How can you have pride in something that's dirty and filthy, so our concept is the more you take time to clean up your neighborhood clean up your city hopefully that will develop more pride and more people," Thomas said.

The city council recently hired a full-time code enforcement officer and passed several new ordinances to address cleaning up more than just trash.

"If anyone in the city or anywhere buys a property in the city that is out of code, they have 12 months to bring it up to code. We really want to encourage people buying property to bring it up to code because that's one of the biggest issues we have," said Matt Shorraw, the Monessen Mayor.

The big picture goal is to cut down on the eyesores and bring more city pride to the streets.

"Hopefully it will be a great Monessen once we are finished with it," Thomas said.

The group hopes to hold another cleanup event in the spring but encourages every resident to clean the community every day.