Moses Lake looks at nuisance abatement process

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake moved last week to collect on two nuisance abatements performed by the city after property owners failed to fix the problems themselves.

City council members moved to accept a payment of $388 for removal of dead shrubs and debris from a bank-owned residence at Sage Bay Drive and $399 for debris removal at a former car lot on West Broadway.

The two resolutions highlight a process that gets the job done, even if it may seem slow to neighbors who lodge complaints against violators, said Community Development Director Gilbert Alvarado.

"I know many times the folks who live next to these types of properties complain that it takes a while but that's just the process we have in place," he told council members. "This isn't a one-month, this isn't a two-month, it's sometimes a three-month process. But ultimately, as in this case, it ends up in front of you, where we have to go in and take care of that abatement."

Alvarado explained the process by way of the Sage Bay Drive property, which was foreclosed on and is now owned by EMC Mortgage Corp. for FIS Tax.

Last month the company was notified of a city council hearing held to consider allegations of a noxious weed nuisance on the property.

At the conclusion of the hearing the council adopted a resolution providing a nuisance did exist and giving the owner 15 days to deal with it. The resolution gave the city leave to fix the problem if the owner failed to do so in that time period, with any costs to be charged against the property owner.

In October the city solicited three quotes for the abatement work, accepted the lowest bid and had the property cleaned up.

If the company fails to pay the bill the issue will go to collections, Alvarado said.

"We had one recently where the fines were just over $5,000 when the property was purchased and the purchaser who wanted that property paid that fee," he said. "So we do collect. It may not happen today or tomorrow, but we will get that fee."

The West Broadway property, which Alvarado said is moving toward foreclosure but currently owned by Joli Pesek, went through the same process last year and again in September.

"Unfortunately we're seeing a repeat offender here," he said.

Councilman Bill Ecret asked why the city doesn't spray weeds at long-neglected properties such as Pesek's closed car lot.

"Why don't we up our standards a little bit and treat that so in the spring, when we get a heavy rain, all these weeds that are growing in the cracks of the asphalt don't grow again and we have to do it again?" he asked. "Since we're passing this fee on anyway, why don't we kick it up a notch? It's their neglect."

City attorney Katherine Kenison was concerned the city wouldn't legally be able to recover costs associated with spraying for weeds, which would be considered preventative maintenance as opposed to nuisance abatement.

She also said applying chemicals to someone else's property could raise liability issues for the city.

"We can't even paint over graffiti without getting sued for not having the right color of paint on the wall," she said.

Mayor Jon Lane nonetheless directed Kenison to look into the feasibility of spraying in the course of future property abatements.