WELLS - Lots knee-high with weeds, properties littered with debris and showing neglected pride of ownership will no longer be tolerated within the city. That was the consensus of the city board Tuesday evening.
“I'm getting calls from residents saying we are giving blighted property owners too many chances. They tell me to take a firm position on this matter,” City Manager Jolene Supp told the council. “We have written multiple letters asking these owners to clean up their properties. We have taken some to court. They pay the fines. But they don't change their ways. I'm looking for direction from the board.”
Mayor Rusty Tybo said the city has identified 10 properties around town that blight the city. “Many of them have absentee owners who don't appear to care about their properties. Our letters are having no long term impact,” he said. “We need to step up the pressure. I think we must proceed to condemnation of the properties.”
Councilman Kenny Huff said the weedy lots are a fire hazard and threaten homes nearby. “We have to get these areas cleaned up. They are a hazard.”
The council directed the staff to send out one more “strongly worded letter” to the property owners. “Tell them the next step will be condemnation of their properties,” the mayor said.
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