By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
City officials appear poised to again declare a property on South Pearson Street in the Southside neighborhood a public nuisance for the second time in less than a year.
At Monday’s meeting of the city Ordinance Committee, city officials once again raised serious concerns about the state of the property located at 1005 South Pearson.
Mayor Jerry Jimison noted that the property had a public nuisance petition filed against it through the city’s community decay ordinance “six or eight months ago,” which resulted in a city Public Works crew and the District Sanitarian going in and removing junk, debris, and towing off four or five inoperable vehicles after the property owner failed to act or respond to notices sent by the city.
But now Jimison and other city officials say the property is as bad or worse than it was before.
“That worked, I guess, temporarily,” Jimison said of the city’s last effort to get the property cleaned up. “People in the neighborhood are starting to complain again.”
Jimison said he drove by the property recently to see for himself, adding he was shocked at the number of vehicles which have piled up again on and around the property. The mayor said he counted 14 vehicles total at the site, adding his opinion that most of them appeared to be junk vehicles.
“My assertion is at least 10 to 12 of those vehicles are not operable at this time,” Jimison said.
Councilman Clyde Mitchell, who represents Ward 2 where the property is located, agreed with Jimison’s assessment.
“Yeah, there’s 12 or 14 (cars) out there,” Mitchell said. “It’s ugly looking again.”
Police Chief Brad Mitchell added that police routinely receive calls complaining about the property.
“I field phone calls on this weekly, and it’s not always the same people,” Chief Mitchell said. “I guess I would like to see the council do something.”
Jimison suggested the city try a two-prong approach by pursuing another public nuisance declaration under the city’s community decay ordinance and by having Chief Mitchell investigate the possibility of citing the property owner with a criminal offense. Chief Mitchell agreed that he would look into what, if anything, he could charge the property owner with. Ordinance Committee members did note that the sheer number of vehicles located at the property would appear to be a clear violation of state law regarding the number of inoperable vehicles which can be stored on a single property.
One big question weighing on the minds of council members was how a second round of the city cleaning up the property would be paid for. Per the city ordinance, once declared a public nuisance, the property owner is sent a bill for the cost of cleaning up the property. If that is not paid, then the ordinance states that the cost will be assessed as a tax lien on the property.
So far, the city has received no payment for the first time the property on South Pearson was cleaned up, which Public Works Director Jack Rice said cost the city some $2,000. Rice said a bill was sent to the property owner, but it has never been paid. Rice then said that he thought District Sanitarian Kevin Pena had reimbursed the city for their cost from his budget, though Rice noted that would still be public money.
However, in a phone interview Friday, Pena said he did not pay the city’s bill for cleaning up the South Pearson property the last time, noting that Rice must have confused it with another issue, and that as far as he knows, no payments have been made for the city’s cost. Pena said the fact that public funds are expended to clean up properties like the one in question is the main drawback of the city’s community decay ordinance.
“That’s the big downside of these things is you’re spending public funds to clean up because somebody’s mismanaging their property,” Pena said. “So yeah, we’ve done it twice and nobody’s paid their bill, other than everybody else in town.”
The Ordinance Committee ultimately recommended that the full council vote to initiate public nuisance proceedings against the property once more. Jimison said city officials need to do all they can to try and solve the issue.
“We can’t continue to let him make the neighborhood a junk deposit, it’s not fair to the neighborhood,” Jimison said.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.