Turning clunkers into cash

Red Ballard pull parts from a Salvaged car outside his shop on Evelyn Street. (KAREN WINK / AMERICAN PRESS)

By Rachel Warren / AMERICAN PRESS

Nearly every time Red Ballard’s phone rings, it’s a chance for him to make money.

He’s not a telemarketer, nor does he work for tech support — Ballard buys and sells junk vehicles.

Ballard is not alone. Classified sections are filled with ads placed by people who buy vehicles that no longer run. In a time of economic uncertainty, many say the business is profitable.

Joe Henry, owner of Buy-U-Junk, said he’s been buying junk cars for about a year.

Henry said he pays owners for their broken-down vehicles based on the cars’ weight and then sells them to a recycler.

Henry gets five to 15 phone calls each day in response to his ads and buys 30-40 vehicles each month, he said.

Henry stumbled on the junk-car industry when he had trouble finding a job in the area.

“I had some friends who were doing it, so I went out and got my license,” he said. “It’s been very prosperous.”

John Landry said he began hauling scrap cars as a side job years ago, but that it eventually became the main source of his income.

Unfortunately, the industry hasn’t been as lucrative for Landry in recent years. He said he sometimes goes days without receiving a call.

Ballard, owner of White Trash Productions, has been a mechanic, welder and pipefitter, so he’s spent nearly a lifetime preparing for his current occupation.

Unlike Henry, Ballard doesn’t sell his vehicles directly to a recycler.

First he retrieves motor oils, tires, batteries and whatever else he can.

He then sells the shells of the vehicles to Southern Scrap, where junkyard employees crush them and transport them to a facility in Texas.

The shells are ground into square-inch chunks and sorted based on what material each is made of.

Ballard said the amount of money he pays for a car depends on several factors, including model year and size.

Ballard receives one to five phone calls each day, and said people would be surprised to know how many residents own a junk car.

“A lot of people have these in their yard or under their carport,” he said. “They just walk by it every day and eventually it becomes a piece of furniture.”

NEWS SOURCE

Long waits typical for demolition

By Carole Hawkins
Staff Writer
Sunday, July 3, 2011

Claudia Bolton fought for two years to get the dilapidated house across the street from hers demolished. There are others in Augusta who will wait much longer.

Brian Garcia helped demolish a Holley Street home on Wednesday. It took two years for the leveling to take place.

A city contractor on Wednesday appeared at 1581 Holley St., knocked down what was left of the burnt, collapsed structure and hauled it away.

"It was such an eyesore and it was directly in front of me," Bolton said. "People who drove down the street would slow down and look at it like, 'Oh my God, does anybody live there?' Some people would throw trash on it. It became a dumping ground."

Augusta-Richmond County budgets $100,000 annually to tear down condemned houses. At an average of $5,000 per house, that's about 20 houses each year. Currently, about 100 houses sit on a waiting list.

"It means we will have houses to demolish for years to come," said Rob Sherman, the director of Augusta's License and Inspection Department.

In Sherman's large office, every piece of furniture holds stacks of paper. Awards have been made to demolition contractors for about a dozen properties in 2011, and they'll bid on a list of about 11 more before the money runs out. Files for 57 more properties have also been added to the stacks.

Bolton can recall three or four families over the years who lived at 1581 Holley St. Then Claude White bought it.

"We used to say he was our neighborhood junk man," Bolton said.

White built a brick structure on the back of the property, intending one day to make it a two-story house. He also collected stuff -- old cars, vans, metal and other objects for which there seemed to be no explanation.

"He'd bring home a piece-of-junk car. When it stopped working, he'd pile it up in the back of the yard and move up to another one," Bolton said.

Records from Augusta code enforcement show White was cited several times for trash in his yard. Otherwise, the property was reasonably maintained. White died in 2008..

His daughter inherited the property, but didn't have the money to clean it up or pay the taxes, Bolton said. Rats took over, the grass wasn't cut. Within six months, the house caught on fire.

It's a situation Sherman has seen before.

"Often, abandoned properties are heir properties," he said. "A house is left to the kids when the parent dies and instead of moving in, the kids rent it out."

The children don't put any money back into the house and have to lower the rent as it becomes more dilapidated, Sherman said. When the rent no longer covers the cost to maintain the house, they quit renting and leave it vacant. Vagrants break in, sometimes setting a fire to cook or keep warm, and the house burns.

SHERMAN SAID THERE are two reasons Augusta has so many condemned houses. One is a strong desire for historic restoration years ago that slowed demolitions in neighborhoods such as Bethlehem.

Another reason is private market forces. As people moved from cities to suburbs decades ago, more houses were left vacant. When private owners shirked responsibility for them, the houses became the city's burden.

Market forces will also play a role in whether things get better, Sherman said. Harrisburg, for example, has potential for redevelopment. But the housing market needs to get better soon.

"The longer it takes, the more of these houses we'll have to demolish," he said.

Neighborhood associations in Harrisburg and in Olde Town have fought hard against encroaching blight.

"There are a few in Olde Town, but in the surrounding community there are actually a lot," said Rick Keuroglian, the president of the Olde Town Neighborhood Association. "The problem is many of them have gotten so bad. They should have been sold a long time ago. Now, they're just sitting there."

ABANDONED HOUSES can become havens for drugs and crime, Keuroglian said. Also, the oppressive feel they bring to the neighborhood has a domino effect. People are less likely to care for their own property when a neighbor's property isn't maintained.

Lori Davis, the president of the Harrisburg Neighborhood Association, said from what she can tell, it's nearly impossible to bring down a condemned house.

"The process is easy. Code enforcement tells you they don't have the money or they can't find the owners. End of process," Davis said.

Both Keuroglian and Davis focus on policing properties for code violations. That way, houses don't become so rundown in the first place.

Neighborhood policing can make a huge difference in stemming blight, Sherman said. With limited staff, code inspectors depend on builders and neighbors to tell them where the problems are.

Condemned houses aren't usually caused by lagging code enforcement, though. They're caused by abandonment.

"Once a house becomes vacant, it's often not dilapidated. Not until it becomes vandalized," Sherman said. "That's when the roof starts to leak, because the owner isn't there to maintain it any more. ... If they're in town we can have them cited, but if they're out of town, we can't."

Demolition facts

A house is condemned if it becomes unsafe for habitation. The standard is the cost of repairs must exceed half the value of the house. Alternatively, the sheriff's office can confiscate a drug house.

A condemned house does not always become a demolished house. A house can become uninhabitable, for instance, if it's being renovated. To be demolished, an owner must show by his words or actions he does not intend to fix the house, and a magistrate judge must order the demolition.

Most abandoned houses are inherited properties. In about 90 percent of cases, no relative comes to court to contest the demolition.

Homes slated for demolition get priority if they create a safety hazard, have a large impact on surrounding neighbors, or generate a large number of complaints. The city attempts to distribute demolitions equally between neighborhoods.

Source: Rob Sherman, director of Augusta-Richmond County License and Inspection Department

NEWS SOURCE

Burlington City Council Votes To Ban Junk Cars

Ordinance In Effect Starting Oct. 2011

BURLINGTON, N.C. -- The Burlington City Council unanimously approved at a meeting Tuesday an amendment to an ordinance that outlaws junked, abandoned and hazardous cars.The new rules will go into effect Oct. 1, 2011. The ordinance will be enforced based on complaints from citizens. After a complaint is filed, an officer will investigate it, the city said in a news release.The ordinance defines a junk car as one that doesn’t have a current license plate, is partially dismantled or wrecked, cannot be self-propelled or moved in the manner originally intended or is more than five years old and appears to be worth less than $100.It defines an abandoned vehicle as one being left on a street or highway in violation of a law or ordinance, left on city property for 24 hours, left on private property without consent for more than two days or left on any public street for more than seven days.A hazardous vehicle is one declared a health or safety hazard by code enforcement staff or police, the city said.

NEWS SOURCE

Oak Hill to enforce junk car ordinance

By Sarah Plummer Register-Herald Reporter

Oak Hill residents and businesses with abandoned or junk cars will be facing fines up to $500 per day as the city begins an immediate enforcement of abandoned, junk and wrecked vehicle ordinances.

City Manager William Hannabass said the ordinances have been on the books for a long time but haven’t been enforced.

“It’s one of those situations where you look the other way until you have a proliferation of junk vehicles,” he said. “We have gotten to the point where we can no longer tolerate it in the city of Oak Hill.”

The ordinances, he said, apply to both individuals and businesses, including those in auto repair.

“Junked or abandoned vehicles are not permitted on public or private property unless they are in an enclosed building or a licensed salvage yard,” he said.

A car is considered junked if it cannot pass a state inspection, he explained.

The ordinance is strict, he continued, and includes major car parts like tires, bumpers or transmissions.

If you have a wrecked vehicle, you have up to 30 days to fix or get rid of it under the ordinance but will then be subject to fines, Hannabass explained.

And with fines ranging between $25 to $500 per day, violators can be fined up to $15,000 in a month.

“Like any other fines, if these are not paid, there can be serious consequences,” he added.

Needless to say, the city of Oak Hill will start looking clean, but Hannabass pointed out encouraging people to get rid of their junk cars can really benefit the owners.

“Salvage prices are up right now,” he said.

“If you have a junk vehicle, you are going to have money in your pocket. Some vehicles may be hard to tow out, but in many instances, owners are going to have a profitable experience.”

Bud Fox, owner of Bud Fox’s Body Shop and Towing in Glen Jean, said that while scrap metal prices change daily, right now an average vehicle can yield between $200 and $300.

—E-mail: splummer@register-herald.com

NEWS SOURCE

Creativity and Humor Crush Ogden's Junk Car Problem

by Norm Riggs
Community Development Specialist
Iowa State University Extension to Communities

What community hasn't struggled with the nagging problem of what to do with all those junk cars stashed around town? Besides being a health hazard, these rusting hulks can become a major eyesore.

Several years ago, Ogden, Iowa, faced this problem head-on and came up with an ingenious solution: Hold a junk car "parade" and enlist local ministers to issue the "eulogies." The effort, called Project Beautify, was launched after a town meeting identified junk cars as a priority concern.

Typically, attempts to collect junk cars strike raw nerves. The city council becomes embroiled in the problem and offending residents were ordered to dispose of their abandoned vehicles or face a fine. Junk car owners bristle at the suggestion and dig in for a fight.

But community leaders realized that local ministers, more than anyone else in town, had the power of friendly persuasion. They could appeal to residents' sense of pride and decency to mobilize cooperation.

Four local churches signed on to the project and encouraged their congregations to support the effort. Junk car owners were contacted and asked if they would donate their car to the parade, which was scheduled for April Fools Day. Local volunteers supplied tow trucks and labor to collect the cars. A hearse led the parade and ministers and members of the Ogden Community Development Corporation followed close behind posing as "mourners." Nearly 400 people attended the parade and chili feed that followed.

Headstones were erected and personalized eulogies were issued for each beloved junk heap. Here are just a few of the many clever tributes, spiced with puns and metaphors, that graced the deceased autos: "Betsy had character and was not easily 'offendered.' When someone turned on her headlights, she would just 'beam.' Yet she never had an 'axle' to grind. She will never be re'tired' again and is now committed to her final 'rusting' place."

"Heavy drink got to George's valves and owner's pocketbook. In recent years George had begun to drink heavily. He couldn't leave that high octane stuff alone."

"Friends, Ogdenites, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Nellie Belle, not to praise her. The evil that cars do lives after them: the good is oft interred with their bodies."

"Sadly, no tears for Matilda. May you rust in peace."

All communities have a reservoir of local creativity and talent. Ogden unleashed that talent with Project Beautify, underscoring the adage that you can get more flies with honey than vinegar. Hundreds of volunteers donated thousands of hours and several thousand dollars in free service to carry out the project. What could have developed into a protracted battle was converted into a huge success story through a festive event where hundreds laughed, laughed and laughed some more.

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Junk car parts are music to composer’s ears

Junk car parts are music to composer’s ears

By Katherine Federici Greenwood
Published in the June 1, 2011, issue

A car fender isn’t just a car fender to composer Sean Friar, a graduate student in Princeton’s music department. It can be a musical ­instrument.

Friar knows just where to bow a fender to make specific pitches. That fender from a Toyota Corolla that he scavenged in a junkyard is just one of a number of old car parts played by four percussion soloists in his piece, Clunker Concerto, in which Friar sought interesting ways to blend the sounds of ­hubcaps, a tailpipe, brake rotors, and pipes with those of traditional orchestral instruments.

“What I tried to do was get into the details of the sounds so that they weren’t just add-on or decoration, but were really an integral part of the music,” he explained. Clunker Concerto premiered at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in March.

For that work, which he described as a “fun, raucous piece,” he won the Samuel Barber Rome Prize in musical composition for 2011–12. During that year, he plans to revise and expand his Clunker Concerto, while residing at the American Academy in Rome. Friar, who grew up playing rock and blues piano before getting into classical music, usually writes for traditional chamber ensembles. But he hopes to use some of the sounds generated from the car parts — particularly the hubcaps — in other compositions: “They have a unique sound that I think a lot of percussionists would like to use.”  

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