Holbrook Council Will Be Asked To OK Clean Up Fee Schedule

By Tammy Gray-Searles
   A proposal to charge property owners when the city must take action to clean up private property will be put before members of the Holbrook City Council at their next meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
   The plan is to take the financial burden of unkempt properties off the taxpayers and put it on the individual offenders. The proposal would also help make the city’s new anti-blight codes financially feasible for the city to enforce.
   Under the fee schedule, property owners would pay both labor and equipment usage charges that will cover the city’s costs of cleaning up the property. Fees for labor, if approved by the council, will be $12 per hour for general labor and $30 per hour for heavy equipment operation. Equipment usage charges are by the hour. They include $25 per hour for hand tools, $50 per hour for a sit-down mower, $75 per hour for a dump truck and $120 per hour for a front-end loader, road grader or backhoe.
   City crews would not work on properties until other clean up and enforcement options had been ex-hausted. The proposal notes, “The blight ordinance is being enacted with the intent to beautify the city through the removal of unsightly conditions. Following adoption, code enforcement will have the authority to cite violators. A number of property owners do not maintain their property in such a way that it conforms to the requirements of this ordinance. In these cases they will be cited according to the procedures previously outlined.
   “In anticipation that some property owners will not complete abatement within the prescribed time pe-riod, an alternative is available through adoption of the fee schedule. This fee schedule was developed with the intent of providing a means for public works to perform abatement if the property owner does not com-ply with the citation.”
   Charges for labor and equipment would be added together. An example provided with the proposal notes that two city staff members using weed-eaters to clean up property for one hour would cost the property owner a total of $74, which equals $24 for two laborers at $12 per hour each and $50 for two weed eaters at $25 per hour each. The proposal also states that a “minimum of one hour rate will be charged for all equipment and labor.”
   For residents who wish to comply with the code, but do not have the physical or financial capability to do so, a number of options are available. The city is offering free pick up of all metal trash, and there is no charge to dump bulky items at the city transfer station. In addition, a number of community groups, such as the Boy Scouts, have offered to help pull weeds and remove trash at no charge to residents who are unable to perform the work themselves and cannot afford to hire someone to do it.
   To schedule pick up of metal items, or to obtain a list of community service groups willing to assist in property clean up, call city hall at 524-6225.