An upstairs portion of the Greensfelder house is seen on Friday, Feb. 26, 2021 in Logansport. Jonah Hinebaugh | Pharos-Tribune
Logansport plans to better define how fines are applied to properties that are not maintained and go against city ordinances.
The Board of Works decided to create a more easily understood scale of the fines at its Wednesday meeting.
The decision came after discussing another out-of-state landlord who has not been communicating with the city about multiple violations.
Although the property at 515 W. Broadway was cleaned up by the time of the meeting, the board members decided to fine its apparent owner, Jamie Herrera of Chicago, $500 because of five violations since January 2019.
Three of the violations were in 2021 and included upholstered furniture out on the property, an abandoned vehicle, trash, debris and electronics scattered on the property.
In August 2020, the property was cited for indoor furniture, trash and debris on the property, and in 2019, that also included electronics, tires, building materials and appliances.
The motivation for better defining the fine structure for eyesores came when board members Mayor Chris Martin and Deputy Mayor Jacob Pomasl asked board member Lisa Terry what she thought the fine should be.
Terry said that she had no benchmark or place to go to decide on the proper fine.
Pomasl said the city Code Enforcement Officer Randy Ulery will work with them on creating a structure of fines.
“The city code allows for a range, but we want to make it more clear cut,” Pomasl said.
However, like many of the city ordinances, they’ve been installed by different administrations over long periods.
Martin’s administration has begun cleaning up and updating ordinances.
Pomasl said that updated ordinances should help “get the city cleaned up and make people responsible for their properties.”
The Board of Works weekly hears about private properties that aren’t kept up and decides on fines and city clean ups of properties, which are charged to the property owners.
Martin said they hope to have the framework for new ordinances in place by the end of the year.
“The accomplishment we want to achieve is ultimately a cleaner city,” Martin said. “And it obviously starts with the people of Logansport.”
Terry has been involved with improvements to the animal ordinances.
She suggested city officials look at what ordinances other municipalities have on fines.
Those who worked on the animal ordinances had looked at other places, she said.
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