West Memphis looking to keep blight under control

West Memphis looking to keep blight under control

City passes new round of tax liens, condemnations for dilapidated properties

news@theeveningtimes.com

The West Memphis City Council dealt with a new list of dilapidated and burned houses and placed liens for unpaid grass mowing bills and torn down.

The blight lists remain long.

Mayor Bill Johnson presented the three items to City Council.

“One of them certifies the liens on the property,” said Johnson. “Another one approves condemnation of some property. The third one is grass liens.”

Contractors with the city mowed grass on overgrown lots after providing notice to owners. More than 800 lots, mostly in residential areas, made the list with unpaid fees set for liens from $91 to $125. The report was 27 pages long.

“This has to do with all the grass we cut,” said Johnson. “We have to publish it the newspaper to give notice and follow the procedure. This is for liens on grass we have cut.”

Some condemned properties torn down by the city were also listed for unpaid fees. Ten properties on the roster were from older neighborhoods in the south and east parts of the city in the Kendal and Broadway Park areas, one was in the Richland subdivision. The fees varied based on the amount of demolition work done from $1,900 – $5,500.

City Council labeled 60 more properties nuisances and set them on condemnation. Most of the addresses were for old houses that stand dilapidated or burned. Owners have a short window to tear down the buildings themselves after which the city may contract the work and bill the owners for the work.

Considering the long lists the Mayor provided a reality tour of the real estate to City Council.

“You know from looking at these and being around here, we will not have enough money to do everything on these lists but we will do as much as we can,” said Johnson.

Collecting liens has improved in recent years.

“I’ll say this, we are collecting them a little better since they began putting them on tax bills. I’ve been told it might be up to 50 percent,” said Johnson.

By John Rech