"Henderson has so many junk cars and salvage vehicles that have been sitting around years and years -- some of them as far as 20 years back I can remember," tow truck driver Charles Robinson said.
Across Henderson, officials say there are more than 1,200 junk cars. The junk vehicles have become a blight on the city's image.
"These cars are used for storage. They are used for drug activity. They are used to sleep in sometimes and that is not a safe situation for anybody," said Lynn Harper, of the Clean-Up Henderson committee. "If you had to get up every morning and look at an abandoned car before you went to work, that would not make you happy."
The Clean-up Henderson Committee has spearheaded a free towing program. Initially, it got sidetracked when three companies balked at all the work involved, but now Charles Robinson and a Warrenton company are handling all the towing at no charge to city residents.
"I'm just ashamed to think that some people aren't willing to help. As a community thing, I think we ought to work together," Robinson said.
The junk cars are eventually crushed into recycled scrap metal, which helps the towing companies recoup some of their costs. The free towing program is scheduled to end in January 2004. After that, the city will charge residents to haul their cars away.
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