Nuisance properties put strain on Austintown

By Elise Franco

efranco@vindy.com

Austintown

An increase in nuisance properties throughout Austintown is putting a strain on township resources, officials say.

Lisa Oles, township trustee, said township employees are forced each spring and summer to maintain the lawns of homes that they’ve declared a nuisance.

Oles said in 2010 the township declared slightly more than 100 houses as nuisance properties due to high grass, and this year, the number is up to 155 with about six months left in 2011.

She attributes the increase to the the poor economy and high foreclosure rates.

“Ninety percent of these properties are vacant. ... There’s one on every street.” she said. “It’s not just us, though. It’s happening in all of the communities.”

Oles said even with six summer employees who only cut high grass, it’s still a drain on township services.

“We’ve turned into a full-time landscaping business,” she said.

Darren Crivelli, township zoning inspector, said the trustees must vote during their regular meetings to declare a property a nuisance. The township can then send the property owner a notice, giving them four days to abate the nuisance before Austintown can go in and do it.

Crivelli said in addition to the more than 150 high-grass nuisances this year, the trustees have declared at least 30 properties nuisances for trash and debris with three other homes slated for demolition.

The property owner — either a person or a bank — is assessed a fee of $175 each time the township has to cut the property’s grass, though Oles said it often costs the township more.

“Some of these properties, we have to cut with three different tools before it’s low enough,” she said.

Oles said though the summer employees cut the properties, they are required to have a supervisor present.

“This takes away from the 215 acres of park lands the parks department employees have to maintain and the repairs the road department has,” she said.

Crivelli said the additional work has strained not only the workers, but also the township’s budget.

“We’ve definitely got limited resources in terms of manpower,” he said. “The road department is down to the bare minimum. ... Five years ago these guys weren’t cutting grass at all.”

Crivelli said that with the township’s $14 million budget already stretched thin, any extra money leaving the general fund is cause for concern.

“This is money we can ill-afford to spend,” he said. “Especially when we need to do work of our own on things like the infrastructure of our own roads.”

Oles said last year the township spent about $42,000 on cutting nuisance properties. She said this year, that amount could be higher. She said Austintown recoups some, but not much, of the cost through a lien if the house eventually is sold.

“It’s money coming out of our general fund,” she said. “The taxpayers shouldn’t have to bear the burden of having their tax money spent on maintaining these properties.”