MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - Briarwood neighbor Jim Rypkema said a good neighbor is “someone who is willing to get to know you and visit with you."

Caring about one's well being is not the only thing that goes into being a good neighbor. It is also about keeping up with code violations.

The Code Enforcement committee of the township meets every second months to discuss possible code violations that have happened in the past two months.

"We offer general suggestions about code enforcement issues that we see appearing on those reports," Briarwood Representative for Code Enforcement Committee Gus Breymann said.

Communicating and being willing to work with one another are some traits to have as a neighbor.

“Due to age or maybe physical constraints they can’t mow their own lawn anymore, they’ll go over and help a neighbor and mow that grass," Director of Community Planning and Development Mark Kieselbach.

These traits have worked for the neighborhood of Briarwood especially when they experienced an ice storm a few years ago.

“We had people running power cords across the street that had generators so they could at least, you know, function," Rypkema said. "And it was all voluntary. Nobody was knocking on doors saying ‘help me.’”