Three Boone County nuisance properties issued order of abatement

The Boone County Commission issued orders of abatement for three Boone County nuisance properties at their meeting Thursday.

Two of the properties are located on O’Rear Road and the other is located on Limoges Drive.

The order gives the Boone County Health Department the authority to correct the property violations. The cost of the repairs are then tax billed.

The abatement process is extensive and all begins with a complaint. Once a complaint is issued, the health department will do an inspection and see if a violation exists, per the Boone County Code of Ordinances.

If a violation exists, then a notice is sent to the property owner via certified mail. The owner then has 15 days to sign the certified letter. If they do not sign it and the letter is returned, then the health department will post it in the newspaper. The owner then has another 15 days to correct the problem before another inspection is done.

After that, a hearing is set and the owner gets 10 days before it takes place. At the hearing, the commission can approve an order of abatement, which gives the health department the green light to fix the problem.

“Some of the things that we saw today were mostly overgrown grass, shrubbery, that kind of stuff in which mice or vermin could be residing, creating a public health hazard for the community,” Boone County District II commissioner Janet Thompson told ABC 17 News after the hearing.

None of the property owners attended Thursday’s hearing.

“For weeds we’re not taking anything of value so our contractor will go and mow the properties and then the cost of that will be tax billed,” environmental health supervisor Kayla Wekenborg-Tomka said.

She added that they always do their best to work with the property owner, but sometimes it’s difficult to get in touch.

“We do work with folks. If they ask for that extra time we are more than willing to grant that to them and work with them as long as we continue to see that they are making progress,” Wekenborg-Tomka said