Frustrations over civil penalties and the collection of fines dominated Wednesday’s meeting of the Clean Up Henderson Committee and led to the selection of a committee to put together a forum to gather information.
One of the goals when the City Council enacted civil penalties for code violations was to provide an incentive for people to take care of their property. But that inducement is missing because the Code Compliance Department can’t issue penalties until a dilapidated house is torn down.
That’s only one of the ordinance quirks that the cleanup committee wants addressed.
“Abandoned houses cannot be issued a penalty until an order is done,” Code Compliance Director Corey Williams said.
Dilapidated buildings have been torn down on Thomas Street and Whitten Avenue in Ward 1, Andrews Avenue in Ward 4, and Lake View/White Oak Drive in Ward 3 since Aug. 16 — three by order of the City Council and one in conjunction with Vance County.
But Cliff Rogers, who asked about the penalties, said: “I’m not talking about the ones on the list. I’m talking about the 150 that need to come down that aren’t on the list.”
Rogers said dilapidated houses are a “quality-of-life issue and a moral issue” that the city must consider.
While most of the committee felt that the city is going through a test case through the appeal of an order to demolish a house on Standish Street, Rogers said: “The test case has already been done.”
He said that in the 1980s a small group encouraged the city to push through a test case that led the city to demolish many dilapidated structures. He said Henderson is reinventing the wheel with the test case on Standish Street.
Rogers suggested that Henderson bring in people who have solved such problems to help make the nuisance ordinances more effective.
City Council member Elissa Yount said she recently visited Dolores Williams, the assistant city attorney for Wilmington, and was impressed with that city’s streamlined process. Williams offered to come to Henderson to help with the process.
Corey Williams said he attended a conference she led, and the information was valuable.
He emphasized that the process for attacking abandoned buildings must be complete: The city should not be left with hundreds of grassy lots that have to be cut; those lots should be put into productive, tax-paying use.
The cleanup committee voted unanimously to ask Dolores Williams to come to Henderson to explain Wilmington’s methods. Eugene Burton, Mary Cottrell, Rogers and Yount volunteered to be on a committee to work on bringing her to Henderson.
“Something different has got to be done,” committee Chairwoman Lynn Harper said. “Right now we are stopped on two fronts, legal and money.”
Corey Williams confirmed that after this week, he probably will have spent all the money budgeted for 2005-06 to take down abandoned structures. Donald Green suggested that the legal issues should be addressed first; then, if the money comes, the process will be set in motion.
Also discussed Wednesday morning:
* The committee heard about progress on the second annual Clean Up Henderson Week, to be held Sept. 26-30. The City Council has waived the pickup fees for excessive trash, furniture, appliances and tires for that week only. Public Works Director James Morgan, whose staff will make the extra pickups, has confirmed that 100 tons of those items were picked up last year during Clean Up Henderson Week with no additional payroll expense.
The committee is providing inserts for water bills to announce details about Clean Up Henderson Week.
Coordinated events will include anti-litter instruction for all county kindergartners (about 900), to be taught by the committee member and schools spokeswoman Terri Hedrick as Beautifly; Vance County Schools will co-sponsor those sessions. Also, materials will be distributed Sept. 21 to 24 during the Vance County Fair to promote the benefits of cleaning up Henderson.
* Rogers was the bearer of some good news. Vance County has hired Kyle Hicks, an Oxford lawyer, to begin foreclosures.
Harper reported that at a mayor’s housing task force meeting July 27 at Shiloh Church, City Manager Eric Williams and County Manager Jerry Ayscue, with the encouragement of county Commissioner Terry Garrison, agreed to bring together City Attorney John Zollicoffer, County Attorney Stubbs Hight and county Tax Administrator Sam Jones to discuss foreclosures on properties with tax liens for buildings torn down or lots cleaned. Such unpaid liens in the city total about $100,000.
Rogers said no one in Granville County is past due more than three years on property taxes.
* Tom Anderson, the code compliance officer in the Vance County Planning Department, received overwhelming support for a proposal to add civil fines of $50 to $750 to the county’s ordinance against litter and dumping and to allow county enforcement officers to issue those penalties. That change will help the county build on the city’s efforts to clean up the community. The county Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on the ordinance revision Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the old courthouse. The Clean Up Henderson Committee voted to send a formal endorsement to the commissioners.
The committee also praised Anderson for “a wonderful, proactive, ‘let’s get it done’ work ethic.”