DUBOIS – Absentee landlords were a topic of discussion during Monday’s DuBois City Council meeting.
It arose out of complaints made by resident Katie Kelly during the public comment period. Kelly said city employees had pruned her Yoshino cherry blossom tree without warning.
However, she said, there have been homes in her neighborhood that have been plagued with blight for decades.
And, “they cut more than half of our tree—down the middle,” said Kelly.
Kelly went on to ask what was being done to address the city’s blight issue. She said if it could drive up and cut her tree in half—without word—it could show up to a property with a dumpster.
She said the city was removing the beauty of tree-lined roadways but letting more and more properties turn into dilapidated homes with junk cars and trash.
Council Member Diane Bernardo requested address information, but Kelly said she didn’t provide it with her photos because it wasn’t her intent to publicly shame the residents.
Code Enforcement Officer Zac Lawhead was familiar with the property in question. He also said the city would soon begin the process of demolishing a vacant and abandoned home.
A process that Lawhead said has been ongoing for at least 13 years now, and that began sometime before he was hired by the city.
The city’s delay in dealing with dilapidated properties was mostly blamed upon the difficultly in acquisition of properties. County Commissioner Dave Glass agreed, adding the county has the same obstacle.
It’s a process that involves having to wait for property owners to fall far enough behind on their taxes that liens can be placed on the property.
Then, they have to wait for those liens to transition to tax sales, and once purchased by a governing entity, that frees up avenues of funding to pay for demolition.
If property owners continue to pay taxes, the city has no easy way of contacting them if it’s a case where residents are renting off absentee landlords.
Bernardo did indicate that DuBois once tried to pass an ordinance, which would require landlords to register their properties and give accurate contact information. She said it was time to make another push.
In other business Monday, council candidate Jennifer Jackson demanded that Solicitor Toni Cherry resign immediately, or be fired in January.
Jackson also asked council to drop its legal fight for the ability to buyout the contract of suspended City Manager John F. “Herm” Suplizio.
Cherry acknowledged that Jackson will fire her in January anyhow and therefore refused to resign her position. Jackson asked why Cherry wanted to drag this out.
She then asked council members to individually sound off on whether or not they would be willing to drop the city’s legal fight.
Council Member Pat Reasinger, who is also the city mayoral candidate, was asked first and indicated he was in favor.
Mayor Ed Walsh was second to respond, indicating council would discuss the matter in an executive session following the public meeting.
Neither Bernardo nor Council Member Jim Aughenbaugh offered a response. Council Member Shane Dietz was absent from the meeting.