MONROE - When was the last time you bought a gallon of premium gas for $3.06?
The price of gas on its sign is just one of the tell-tale marks of how long the BP gas station on 20th Avenue has been out of business. Telephone service is disconnected, and ADT security said the account is not active.
Left unmowed, the grass along the street is starting to put on seed.
Residents in the area are complaining the property looks abandoned and unkempt.
Jerry Schwaiger, who lives a block from the station, wrote in an e-mail to The Monroe Times a month ago that "no one seems to be taking care of the property so it is beginning to look shabby."
Without any oversight, the property has become a convenient place for people to get rid of their unwanted junk.
Schwaiger said in an telephone interview Wednesday that people drop off junk on the property near the Green Valley Disposal dumpsters located there.
"It started with clean-up days. I went over once and picked up some of the junk around there," he said.
Monroe Clean-ups Days were from April 28 to May 9.
Jeff Pitcel, general manager of Green Valley Disposal in Monroe, said the dumpsters are being emptied, but the company received the last payment for them in March.
"Usually, we leave them on the property to get the customers to pay," Pitcel said.
The bills for service since March have been turned over to a collection agency, and Pitcel said with the customer gone the dumpsters soon will be removed.
With the sudden closing also came abandoned store items.
"There are old wooden pallets with junk under the windows," Schwaiger said.
He said the yard has not been mowed this summer.
Inside the store, shelves have been cleared, except for many bottles and cans of soda left in the coolers.
Coldwell Bankers placed a sign against the gas pumps last weekend, with a phone number and the simple word "action."
A call to the number reached Tim Wimmer, in Wausau, who said he was selling the property for the owners, Texas Oil, LLC. He would not disclose the asking price of the property, saying he only would do that to an interested buyer. He directed all questions about the selling price of the property to General Manager Dan Grawein.
Grawein extended apologizes to the city for the condition of the property during a brief telephone interview with a Times reporter on June 24.
He said a previous article in The Monroe Times about the station losing power last winter and its manager not responding to the employees' calls was "not true," and expressed desire to "sit down" with a news reporter to explain the situation at the station.
However, repeated attempts to set an appointment with Grawein have failed.
According to the Green County Treasurer's office, the property is assessed at $390,600 for the building and $74,300 for the land. Property taxes for 2006 and 2007 are delinquent. The 2007 taxes total $13,138, without penalty or interest.
Owners are listed as Texas Oil, LLC, 648 E Washington, Madison, with a contact name of Sam Samra. Several calls to the company last month were not returned.
City taxes in the amount of $1,700 for 2007 also are delinquent; a letter to the property owners received no response.
Delinquent city taxes are sent to the county for collection. The city writes off a portion of taxes not paid.
The price of gas on its sign is just one of the tell-tale marks of how long the BP gas station on 20th Avenue has been out of business. Telephone service is disconnected, and ADT security said the account is not active.
Left unmowed, the grass along the street is starting to put on seed.
Residents in the area are complaining the property looks abandoned and unkempt.
Jerry Schwaiger, who lives a block from the station, wrote in an e-mail to The Monroe Times a month ago that "no one seems to be taking care of the property so it is beginning to look shabby."
Without any oversight, the property has become a convenient place for people to get rid of their unwanted junk.
Schwaiger said in an telephone interview Wednesday that people drop off junk on the property near the Green Valley Disposal dumpsters located there.
"It started with clean-up days. I went over once and picked up some of the junk around there," he said.
Monroe Clean-ups Days were from April 28 to May 9.
Jeff Pitcel, general manager of Green Valley Disposal in Monroe, said the dumpsters are being emptied, but the company received the last payment for them in March.
"Usually, we leave them on the property to get the customers to pay," Pitcel said.
The bills for service since March have been turned over to a collection agency, and Pitcel said with the customer gone the dumpsters soon will be removed.
With the sudden closing also came abandoned store items.
"There are old wooden pallets with junk under the windows," Schwaiger said.
He said the yard has not been mowed this summer.
Inside the store, shelves have been cleared, except for many bottles and cans of soda left in the coolers.
Coldwell Bankers placed a sign against the gas pumps last weekend, with a phone number and the simple word "action."
A call to the number reached Tim Wimmer, in Wausau, who said he was selling the property for the owners, Texas Oil, LLC. He would not disclose the asking price of the property, saying he only would do that to an interested buyer. He directed all questions about the selling price of the property to General Manager Dan Grawein.
Grawein extended apologizes to the city for the condition of the property during a brief telephone interview with a Times reporter on June 24.
He said a previous article in The Monroe Times about the station losing power last winter and its manager not responding to the employees' calls was "not true," and expressed desire to "sit down" with a news reporter to explain the situation at the station.
However, repeated attempts to set an appointment with Grawein have failed.
According to the Green County Treasurer's office, the property is assessed at $390,600 for the building and $74,300 for the land. Property taxes for 2006 and 2007 are delinquent. The 2007 taxes total $13,138, without penalty or interest.
Owners are listed as Texas Oil, LLC, 648 E Washington, Madison, with a contact name of Sam Samra. Several calls to the company last month were not returned.
City taxes in the amount of $1,700 for 2007 also are delinquent; a letter to the property owners received no response.
Delinquent city taxes are sent to the county for collection. The city writes off a portion of taxes not paid.