SULPHUR SPRINGS - Hiring a new Sulphur Springs police chief puts more teeth into newly adopted city ordinances, and Sulphur Springs has done just that.
During its regular March 14 session, the Sulphur Springs City Council hired Duke Brackney as the city’s new police chief.
Watch for a feature story on Brackney in an upcoming issue of the Eagle Observer.
New city ordinances adopted by the council force property owners in city limits to clean up houses and properties, as well as clean out adjacent street gutters and ditches, or face possible monetary penalties, misdemeanor arrest or even having a lien placed against property to pay for the cleanup.
Mayor Bobby Simon and Police Chief Duke Brackney now have the legal means to determine properties a public nuisance, classifying property or its structures as dilapidated, unsightly, unsafe, unsanitary, obnoxious or detrimental to public health and welfare.
If properties are so declared, the owner or owners would receive an official notice. If declared as an unsafe structure, for instance, the owner might have to dismantle the house and clear the land at his own expense within a designated time frame.
If the owner fails to comply within the time frame set by new city ordinances, the city could declare the property a nuisance. Owners could also be subject to a drawn-out judicial process, in which the city can place liens on property for all costs incurred in tearing down structures and cleaning property, as expressed in the Arkansas Municipal League’s “Legal Tools to Help a City Keep a City Clean.” Summary of Requirements
Ordinance 13-02 requires property owners to keep premises “free from weeds, rank grass, garbage, rubbish and other unsightly and unsanitary articles.”
The ordinance counts all the above as public health hazards and also cites any stagnant pools of water that “might become a breeding place for mosquitoes, flies and germs” as harmful to public health. The packet’s ordinance “A” gives property owners seven days to clean up or face a lien on property if the city pays the cost of cleaning. Any property owners with address or whereabouts unknown could receive a notice by a posting on the property and a registered letter addressed to their last known residence.
Ordinance 13-03 prohibits dumping or throwing any trash or refuse within the city’s limits. It says any person or persons caught throwing or dumping “trash, refuse, cans, bottles, garbage, paper, rags or any other kind or form of trash or garbage” may face a misdemeanor charge with a fine not less than $100 or to exceed $1,000 if found guilty.
Ordinance 13-04 requires property owners or occupants to keep abutted property “street gutters alongside their premises cleared and kept clean of all matter preventing the free flow of water.” Found in violation, owners or occupants, even if only renting or leasing property, could face a fine between $100 and $1,000.
Ordinance 13-05 pertains to new construction and addresses any city street water ditches or drains adjacent to property. All public or private driveways crossing a street-side drainage ditch require street-superintendent-approved culvert materials to avoid a fine.
Ordinance 13-07 gives the city legal means to “condemn and remove houses, buildings or structures constituting a nuisance within corporate limits.” It gives the city the right to place a lien on property and to enforce a penalty on property owners or occupants.” The city can then sell any items, structures or property to recoup its costs.
This ordinance makes it “unlawful for any person or persons, partnerships, corporation or association, to own, keep or maintain any house, building and/or structure within the corporate limits of the city of Sulphur Springs” which is declared a nuisance.
The city would have to show a reasonable and good faith effort to notify the legal property owners of violations by resolution of the city council prior to condemning a property. The city attorney would notify owners by registered letter sent to the last known address.
Property condemned by the city and not torn down or removed within 30 days after posting “will be torn down and/ or removed by the city’s building inspector or his duly-designated representative,” according to city ordinances.
Land owners could face fines ranging from $250 up to $1,000 if they fail to tear down and remove condemned nuisance structures within 30 days from notice, and up to $500 for each day thereafter.
News, Pages 4 on 03/27/2013