Tamaroa Board Struggles with Property Maintenance Issues
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Two village residents asked the board of trustees to enforce local property maintenance and nuisance ordinances in their neighborhoods.
Eileen Koenegstein said that the two homes north of her residence are not being maintained. The weeds are tall and are a haven for bugs, raccoons and snakes.
She said one of the homes is occupied, but the other has been empty for some time.
Byron Stricker again lodged a complaint against his neighbor's pond. He said it also breeds mosquitoes and snakes.
He said Wednesday's visit to the Village Board meeting was his fifth in two years. The last meeting he attended he was told the Village Attorney would assess the situation then send him a letter with the board's decision. No letter was sent.
Current Village Attorney Matt Foster said that the last he knew about the issue it was a dispute between two property owners and would be a civil matter. He agreed to personally visit the site next to Stricker's home to see if it the issue could be addressed by local or state ordinance enforcement.
The village recently signed a contract with the Perry County Sheriff's Department for local patrols. There had been no regular police presence for the previous several years.
Also, without such a contract, the Sheriff's Department could not enforce local ordinances.
"Now that we have a regular law enforcement in the village we can enforce the ordinances," Foster said. "Before that wasn't possible."
Audience members took the opportunity to list several properties that need to be either regularly maintained or demolished.
Some that were mentioned were the old lumber company, filling station and roller rink on Main Street and another unspecified property with a pond on it.
Trustee Lisa Haycraft compiled a list of abandoned properties after a similar discussion at the May 2011 board meeting. That list was also turned over to the board.
Village Clerk Cheryl Pelker objected to compiling lists of homes. She said anyone with a complaint about a specific property should lodge the complaint in person.
Foster will send letters to the property owners and said he would personally visit the site next to Stricker's home.
In the case of dangerous buildings, he recommended a safety inspection be done by local authorities.
In other business, the board:
directed Pelker to look into getting a credit card for the village. A credit or debit card would allow Tamaroa to do away with the petty cash fund.
amended the ordinance setting the meeting date and time to start meetings at 6 p.m.