Residents share concerns about neighbor at council meeting
COSHOCTON – James Green and neighbors brought concerns about problems they are having with a resident in their neighborhood to the Nov. 26 Coshocton City Council meeting.
The resident has items all over his porch and yard and doesn’t mow often. His house doesn’t have running water and he has been known to dump urine outside. Neighbors also have started getting mice in their house since this all started.
Green’s Vine Street home is adjacent to this South Lawn Avenue residence.
“I’ve been down there and it’s pretty bad,” said Councilman Chad Johnson.
Mayor Steve Mercer informed Green that the city has had on going issues with his neighbor including court action.
“He’s a very difficult individual to deal with as I’m sure you are aware of,” Mercer said.
Property Code Investigator Jeff Corder also has had regular conversations with him.
“We had him in court this summer and we won that case,” Corder said. “He had his property cleaned up then, but Joe Garrett, director of public health had to send him another letter giving him until Dec. 3 to get his property cleaned up again.”
Another neighbor, Teresa Stanley also addressed council and had pictures of the property on her phone to share with them.
“If he cleans it (his property up) he’s just going to do this again,” she said. “We’ve heard about court action being taken for months now, but we don’t see anything happening.”
Mercer assured her that they are in constant communication with him over his property code violations.
“This is unacceptable to us too,” he said. “Unfortunately we have some residents that think they still live out on the prairie somewhere, but we live in a city where there are rules and regulations.”
Stanley shared that her neighbor also has confronted her outside by grabbing her power wheelchair.
Councilman Brad Fuller encouraged her to report this safety issue to the sheriff’s office.
“He can’t touch your chair or your person,” he said.
The deputy in attendance at the meeting also encouraged her to report any issues. While they might not always be able to do something, they can at least start documenting that there is a pattern of problems.
Jennifer Green also shared with council that she caught the neighbor urinating on their swing and that they had to close their pool early because he put urine in it.
“I sympathize with you guys,” said Safety Service Director Max Crown. “We are trying our best. We have at least two hours every week of conversation about this issue and trying to figure out what to do. I get where you are coming from.”
The mayor did not have a report to share during the meeting, but Corder did. He wanted to remind the public that the new vacant property code is in effect and that property owners who fall under its specifications need to fill out their paperwork. Anyone who has not registered their vacant property will be contacted by mail and have 30 days to file before the law director files charges.
During the meeting, council also gave two readings to legislation 58-18, an ordinance establishing the property code investigator as a full-time position with the city of Coshocton. A third reading will be given to it at the next council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10. If the legislation passes, the position will go from part-time to full-time in January 2019.
Category: Government
