Landowner concerned with debris, disrepair of nearby ‘motel’

By Rupert Howell
Looking for ways to enhance Panola County property for which she is executor for an estate, Pamela A. Folik hasn’t found much footing with local laws and is now looking to the state.
The property of her late father is near Sardis Lower Lake on Henry Heafner Road.
Although Land Commission Officer Chad Meek and Sheriff Dennis Darby have been advising her, they believe their hands are tied in dealing with her problem.
Folik has attended two meetings of Panola’s board of supervisors and tried every avenue she knows available, most recently writing the District One Health Office, Dr. Alfio Rausa to intervene.
Neighbors to her property operate a trailer-house/cabin rental business. Folik claims the units are not held to any standards.
Meek contends the rental business predates the county’s 1999 Land Use ordinance and is grandfathered and not subject to current regulations even though zoned agricultural.
Field Dew, who worked with the Department of Health when the business originated, said its wastewater is regulated by the Department of Environmental Quality. He explained the units had a waste water treatment plant that discharged into the nearby Tallahatchie River and was to be monitored on a monthly basis. He said he was surprised when DEQ approved it.
Folik’s plea to the district health officer states the business operation known as The Hickorys is actually a motel as it operates as a weekly trailer and cabin rental  requiring deposits and weekly rental fees instead of lease agreements.
“Regardless, . . . it is clear that the exterior of the motel is not being held to any standards,” Folik writes adding, “And while I have not been inside any of the units, it is a known fact that guests of the motel have fallen through the floors of two separate units during the month of July 2016 alone.”
Folik has also sent a copy of the letter to the State Fire Marshall’s office with pictures showing debris on the grounds of the property such as old furniture and appliances, a sign advertising weekly rentals and a vacant unit evidently gutted by fire.
“In an effort to protect the guests and clean up the surrounding environment, I respectfully request that an inspection of rental units be scheduled at the earliest possible date,” Folik’s letter asks.