CIRCLEVILLE – Julie Strawser Circleville City Council Member read aloud a letter from a concerned Circleville citizen on Tuesday, February 20th. The letter concerned poor neighborhood conditions and nuisances like trash accumulation and broken down vehicles parked on city streets.
Strawser then read the letter, “Imagine the frustration of having one of these situations next door to you, calling the board of health or one of the public officials several times to get it resolved, only to find your call fell upon deaf ears.”
Strawser then went beyond the letter and described where to report and what would happen when you reported issues like this.
Strawser then said, “I can’t speak for the health department, but I’d like to give my perspective as a city council person. First, any violation regarding RVs or boats and cars must be made to the Circleville Police Department.”
Strawser then went on making the following statements.
“According to city ordnance 303.10 “No person shall willfully leave a junk vehicle uncovered in the open for more than 72 hours. If you the citzen see a violation report it to the police department.
“Also according to city ordnance 351.03 no vehicles other than bicycles may be parked on sidewalks, curbs or street lawn areas, which I interpret as front yards. Additionally inoperable vehicles, likes those with flat tires, may not be parked on city streets. If you see these violations, please report them to the police department.”
“Now regardless of trash or overgrowth of weeds, this is what a citizen should do. Call the city of Circleville administration to report the violation. Unfortunately, the violation will not be corrected overnight. After speaking to Mayor and other officials, it could take several weeks before the condition will be improved. Once the city receives a complaint, the city contacts the health department, who will send someone to investigate the complaint. If a violation is observed the health department will contact the owner of the property, who will then have 10 days to correct the violation, and after those 10 days the health department will revisit the property.
“If there is no improvement, the health department will tell the city to clean it up, who will then send employees to gather trash, mow, pull weeds and pull old furniture and carry out the health department’s instructions.”
“If you are a Circleville taxpayer you should know you are paying this bill. For repeat offenders, which there are many, these bills can balloon to the thousands of dollars. Here’s the bottom line: it seems like common sense that property owners should keep their properties clean, mowed and free of junk vehicles. However, this body cannot legislate common sense.”
“So if you observe vehicles and violations with vehicles call the police department.”
“If you see violations regarding trash, abandoned furniture or tall grass and weeds call the city administration, and if you want a callback, you must leave your phone number.”
In 2017 the city of Circleville received over 300 complaints most were anonymous, and the city courtesy of the tax payer provided 49 clean ups. The more likely the citizen calls the city about these problems the more likely something will be done about them.
WHO DO WE CALL REGARDING THE LITERING BEING DONE BY THE PEOPLE WHO DELIVER THE BAG/ADVERTIZER. IF YOU TRAVEL THE CITY AND OBSERVE YOU WILL SEE THE BAG / ADVERTIZER MOSTLY IN THE GUTTERS OR BLOWING ALL OVER YARDS. TO ME THIS IS LITTERING AND NEEDS TO BE STOPPED BY SOMEONE IN CHARGE OF THIS CITY.
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