City of Valley continues nuisance property clean up

Published 11:00 am Thursday, November 11, 2021

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VALLEY — The City of Valley is continuing to clean up nuisance properties in the city and to impose liens on those properties as a means of recovering the cost.

At a public hearing on Monday, Code Enforcement Officer Reid Riley talked to the city council about the procedure he’d gone through to confirm the costs of taking action on ten separate properties. In the council meeting that followed, the council unanimously approved confirming those costs. There were multiple structures on a given property in some cases, making it more costly to clean up.

On a big screen TV in the council chamber, Riley displayed recent photos of the abandoned houses, each showing an advanced state of deterioration.

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One of those properties on 46th Street had a total clean-up cost (legal fees included) of $10,350. Another property on 46th Street had a total cost of $7,850. Sharp Properties own both sites.

Additional confirmed costs are $6,259 for a site on 31st Street, $5,050 for a site on 58th Street, $4,900 for a location on 57th Street, $5,950 for a property on Standfield Road, $6,150 for a lot on 55th Street, $5,550 for a site on Fairwood Drive, $5,250 for a site on Lower Street and $5,500 for an abandoned house on Middle Street.

A private contractor (the Henry Hudson Company) did the demolition and clean-up work in each case. The legal fees were $750 per case.

In a new action, the council declared a public nuisance and authorized action to clean up a site on Crystal Springs Road.

Liens were imposed on 52nd Street, California Road, 23rd Boulevard, 21st Avenue, and 20th Avenue properties.

Two people asked to be placed on the agenda to talk to the council but were not present.

Ralph Kenneth Hollis wanted to speak to them about an abatement and removal of inoperable vehicles issue, and Santana Heard wanted to talk to them about paving a road.