File photo By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostSt. Joseph city officials are working to get more residents involved in cleaning up and beautifying the city.City Manager Bryan Carter says there is a grassroots effort underway."On one hand, we have groups that are focused on our parks. On the other hand, we have just individuals that are really stepping up the effort to get out and pick up litter and such on streets," Carter says. "We have a new committee that's been formed in the last year and really starting to take hold that's just exploring different initiatives, more formal initiatives, that can be pursued to help with some of that litter and blight cleanup that's occurring."Carter says the city is creating a virtual log on its website that will allow volunteers or groups of volunteers to record their efforts. It also will allow efforts to be more coordinated.Litter has become a problem in parts of the city. City residents have taken it upon themselves to tackle the problem, street by street, block by block.The age and size of St. Joseph makes a difference, according to Carter."We're an old city and that's a big part of it," Carter says. "As an old city, we have a couple of things that we have to deal with. We have to deal with the fact that we're geographically large. Although St. Joe is a city of about 75,000, we cover a lot of acres. And within those acres, there are some pockets of town that are just older and, of course, over time deterioration occurs and certain parts of town have certainly been kept up. There are other parts that haven't."Litter isn't the only problem.While many parts of St. Joseph boast beautiful older homes, some even majestic mansions, others are long past their glory days. Some sections of the city have deteriorated to the point that once stunning houses have been abandoned, some falling into ruin.State legislators responded and approve a bill allowing for the creation of the St. Joseph Land Bank, modeled after successful programs in St. Louis and Kansas City. The Land Bank can acquire property, either piecemeal or collectively, and market it to those interested in tackling a renovation project of an historic home.Carter says there's no easy, magic fix to bringing old, abandoned homes back to their former glory. He believes the Land Bank is starting in the right direction."Really, almost in an experimental mode now, trying to figure out what does work, what doesn't work and how to best to utilize the resources that they have available to turn some of those older properties around."Carter says the Land Bank has acquired three properties and is looking to acquire more. Those will be marketed to buyers who promise to fix them up. File photo