Olin looks to new ordinances for public nuisances

     Olin’s Mayor, Becky McAtee, and City Clerk, Jean McPherson, met with the board and Treasurer Amy Picray to look at adopting ordinances to allow cities to bid on and purchase delinquent taxes.

     McAtee said Olin is trying to clean up abandoned properties throughout the town. She said if Picray had the ability to assign tax sale certificates on abandoned property or vacant lots to cities, Olin could clean up many of the nuisance properties.

     “We want to get rid of houses that are in rough shape,” said McAtee.

     In November 2016, Olin rolled out its municipal infraction policy to enforce the clean up of nuisance properties.

     “We’re pushing it and holding our ground,” commented McPherson. She said an added tool would be the ability purchase abandoned properties with the intent to rehab them.

     Picray said the tax sales could also be assigned to any party that agrees to clean the property up. McAtee said some agencies have purchased some of the nuisance properties, but then they continue to sit in disarray.

     Picray said this type of policy is not too common among counties in Iowa, having talked to other county treasurers. But she said it couldn’t happen until the board of supervisors adopts an ordinance.

     McAtee said an ordinance like this would also benefit the county.

     “It could add another layer to our nuisance policy,” commented Supervisor Wayne Manternach.

     Picray agreed, saying it would also speed up the nuisance process a bit.

     She told the board she would look at sample ordinances from other counties and have County Attorney Phil Parsons look it over.

     “This won’t be an immediate fix for your problem,” Supervisor Ned Rohwedder told the Olin city officials, “but this might get the process started.”

     “This will just motivate us to keep moving forward and get rid of the nuisance homes,” said McAtee. “We don’t want to buy them (the properties) for ourselves, just clean them up.”

     County Auditor Janine Sulzner said eliminating dilapidated or abandoned properties would also be a benefit to the City of Olin’s tax vase as well.

In other county business:

     • The board amended a resolution that was approved on April 18, 2017, regarding the ownership and maintenance of Ely’s Stone Bridge. During that April board meeting, the supervisors approved the sale of the bridge to the Historic Preservation Commission for $1.

     With the Commission established and members appointed by the supervisors, the board was advised by County Attorney Phil Parsons to amend the resolution.

     This amendment means that the county will not transfer ownership of Stone Bridge. It also stipulates that the bridge will no longer be under the supervision of Secondary Roads, but under the Commission. Stone Bridge will remain closed to traffic.

     • The board approved a new 28E agreement with the state DOT for driver’s license issuance. In Jones County, those are issued at the Treasurer’s Office.

     Picray said the new 28E, compared to the former agreement from 2007, “focuses less on specific procedural instructions and more on the obligations such as background checks, privacy, security requirements, training reimbursements, and fees.” In addition, Picray said the DOT would now cover travel expenses for employees in her office for required training.

     “That’s a positive,” she told the board.

     • The board set a public hearing for Tuesday, June 27, at 10 a.m. to accept bids for the sale of property obtained at a tax sale.  The parcel is located in the unincorporated part of Section 11 of Fairview Township along an unnamed street extending east from Garnavillo Street in Anamosa.

     • The board awarded the Dale’s Ford Road grading and ditching project in Scotch Grove Township to the lowest bidder, B&J Excavating for $34,398.75, subject to the engineer’s review.

     Four bids were submitted for the project. The engineer’s estimate was around $75,000. Snead said construction would begin “in the not too distant future.”