Kim Foutz, assistant city manager, said Temple Police Department presence has had an impact along the avenues, which are considered one of the city’s strategic investment zones. A strategic investment zone is a corridor in the city that could benefit from incentives or enforcement to achieve its potential.

But, she said, it is time to continue the efforts on a different front and a different tact.

“We’ve focused on that area the last one and a half to two years, and so now we need to put together some community systems and other tools to help keep all of our progress moving forward,” she said.

A concentrated presence of law enforcement is not the city’s long-term goal, she said.

Inspections of public buildings will be the next step. “We will have a law enforcement aspect, which will continue, but not at the level they have been in the past.”

Ms. Foutz said a definite timetable for the inspections has not been set, although they could begin in a month and involve Temple Fire and Rescue as well as Bell County Health District. She said that to this point, code enforcement, working and law enforcement efforts in the area have concentrated on external violations, such as outdoor storage, junk and debris, dilapidated signs or property maintenance.

She said upcoming inspections would include electrical and plumbing, Americans with Disabilities issues, and code violations involving health and safety.

“The inspections are not atypical, other than trying to do it in a one- to two-month time period, and we’re bringing different types of inspectors in the building other than just our fire marshal,” she said. And, she added, the inspections are not meant to surprise anyone.

“We want to get the word out,” she said. “We want all the establishments to know that that’s the intent. It’s not intended to be a surprise.”

Ms. Foutz said the new efforts in the area are coming about with the help of Heart of Temple Angel Alliance, an organization in the area concerned with making the corridor safe and encouraging business development.

She called the group the city’s “eyes and ears on the ground.”

“They’ve put together a group that will actually do things outside of what the city can do, such as working with investors and communicating to the city what their needs are in order to step out and start making investments in the area,” she said. “They are also working with some of the existing social service agencies and entities in that area, trying to provide resources to them.”

Judy Morales, spokeswoman for the group, said that what had been a loose organization of individuals wanting to improve the area’s safety and promote redevelopment became a solid group about a year ago with an eye toward making lasting changes that would help attract businesses, which led to a request for city inspections.

“We talked about concerns of the structures - some of the buildings were old and some had a lot of trash and old cars and stuff around the building and one thing led to another,” she said about the committee’s work. “It was decided at that point that in order to be sure everyone would be treated equally, a good way to do that would just be to inspect all of the buildings and have a good inventory of what’s available.”

Area business owners had a variety of opinions on the move to step up inspections.

James M. Davis, owner of James Auto Repair at 402 W. Ave. G, said the city wants him to put up a privacy fence, which is something he does not want to do.

“You can’t get no air in there,” he said, if a fence goes in. “All that fence is going to do is have it where somebody can crawl over in here and vandalize cars or steal stuff from me and they’ll never see it when they (law enforcement) drive by.”

He said the city also is asking him to do his work inside. “They don’t want me to work outside,” he said. “Everything has to get done in the building. There’s not enough room for everything to get done in the building.”

He added that a fence would be a financial burden on him. He said he has been at the Avenue G site for about seven years and has worked in Temple for about 26 years.

Mary Burgamy, owner of A-1 Sewing and Vac Center at Avenue H and 13th Street, said she did not necessarily object to inspections, but wanted fair play.

“Since people around me throw trash all over the place, are they going to monitor the houses? My comment might be the city might well spend time doing that (code enforcement related to residences).

“I don’t mind it, but I don’t like to be targeted,” she added. “We try to keep it clean and up to code, otherwise we get in trouble.”

Don Jayamaha, owner of Payless Tires at 1214 W. Ave. G, said he would not have a problem with increased inspections.

“I’ve been here for four years and try to keep everything clean and everything,” he said.

Ms. Foutz said that although it is possible an existing business could end up closing down as a result of inspections, that is not the intent.

“Typically, what would happen, we would write up all of the violations and they are given a certain amount of time to come into compliance,” she said. “If they (violations) are severe health and safety violations, they could be closed down temporarily until such time as they meet those minimum (requirements).

“That’s not the intent. The intent is to make sure they are aware of what the regulations are and that they are meeting those regulations.”

Ms. Foutz said the inspections are a part of a larger effort in the area.

“In addition, there’s a myriad of other steps, including … an incentive ordinance for commercial and residential properties in the area,” she said.

“One single approach is not going to get redevelopment in the area,” she said. “It’s going to be a combinations of strategies. It’s what we are calling a ‘stick-and-carrot’ approach.”

She explained that the stick is code enforcement and the inspections, while the carrot would come in the form of anticipated incentives and public investment in infrastructure.

An example of that can be seen with the addition of new playground equipment in Jones Park. The park had been a gathering place for people suspected of criminal activities.

“The police department, through their monitoring, have really seen a renewal of families coming into that neighborhood and at the park,” Ms. Foutz said. “So we wanted to hone in and try to put investments in the park that would be more conducive to a family environment.”

Ms. Morales said she and her organization are excited about the future of the Avenue G and H area with the new push.

“I think everybody is excited about the progress we’re making and want to continue to bring back this important part of the city, because it’s the heart of the city, and revitalize it and bring pride back into neighborhoods. I think we’re getting there, slowly but we’re getting there.”