Council votes to abate problems

by Scott Hunter

Electric City residents let the city council know in no uncertain terms that they wanted action.

A property at 105 5th Street was perpetually in unacceptable condition, as they described it, and they wanted the city to do something about it.

One man, who didn’t give his name, told the council April 8 that neighbors a couple doors down “have an abundance of trash that’s high as the ceiling, been there for last two and a half years, and … it’s starting to smell.”

John Avey, who has lived next door to the property in question for decades, cited state law and called for “emergency condemnation of all property and structures” at that address.

Avey shared photos he’d taken from his own property over the fence, which at one point had a dead raccoon thrown up against it on the other side, he said.

He also had over 100 pages of city records and photos from back to 2021 that he said showed the city has been trying to deal with the issue but had not gotten it done.

“I’m beyond tired of the filthy, rotten mess that’s been over there for over 20 years, including the junk cars and those mountains and mountains of trash and so on,” Avey said.

Arguments several times between Avey and Vern Bird, the “gentleman” he referred to during his speech, prompting Mayor Pro Tempore Robbin Boyce to shout them down to regain order.

Another neighbor who moved in three years ago said he was finally prompted to take action recently when he saw a rat run from their yard into his.

Bird claimed he had sold the property and would soon be cleaned up again.

City code compliance officer Tasha Enoch said the city has been dealing with the violations repeatedly.

“There has been the proper channels of the friendly letters, the warning notice, then a notice of violation,” she said. “Now, the waste has accumulated again. So the city stance has been we’re not going back to friendly letters and warning notices.”

The council went into a closed executive session to confer with the city’s attorney, then came back out and voted to move forward with abating the property.