Moses Lake clears land of weeds
Property owners fined more than $25,000
By Candice Boutilier
Herald staff writer
MOSES LAKE — The City of Moses Lake plans to assess cleaning charges to property owners of three private lots in the city.
The lot at 813 Catalpa Street belongs to City Mortgage and cost the city $481.04 to clean. The property had overgrown with noxious weeds several feet high.
The city made attempts to contact the property owner so they could clean it themselves, according to a city document. The property owners were unresponsive and failed to attend a public hearing concerning the property at a previous council meeting.
The issue was resolved through the nuisance abatement process where the property owner was sent notices urging them to clear the weeds. They were ultimately fined $250 per day for each day they failed to remove the weeds until the city had them removed.
The fine was levied for the maximum amount allowable by ordinance, $5,000, according to city staff.
The other two properties are owned by Grant Holdings. They are located at 1121 Columbia Avenue and 705 D Street. The city went through the same nuisance abatement process for each property and the owner was fined $250 per day the weeds remained.
It cost $320.56 per lot to remove the weeds, according to a city document.
Grant Holdings faces fines for the maximum amount allowable for each property by ordinance, totaling $10,000, according to city staff.
No one from Grant Holdings attended the public hearing concerning cleaning the property at a previous council meeting.
The city contracted with Bishop Spray Service to clean all three properties.
Code Enforcement Officer Don Pohjola said he made attempts to contact each of the property owners but they did not respond to his efforts.
Councilmember Bill Ecret made a motion to have city staff bill the property owners of each property for the cleaning services. Councilmember Richard Pearce seconded and it passed unanimously.
Councilmember James Liebrecht was absent from the meeting.