This is the second story on the City Work Session with Lyons City Administrator John Sweet. The first story was on the “land bank” and can be found here. 

by James Jordan, Sumner Newscow — Having a process in place, and having consistent follow through, is the key to keeping a city clean, Lyons City Administrator John Sweet told the Wellington City Council Tuesday. He was in town telling leaders at a work session how he managed to get things done in his city.

City council members have been talking more lately about how to deal with a rising problem of junky yards, filled with trash, abandoned cars, furniture and other things that create problems.

John Sweet

Recently the landlord’s association went to a city meeting and asked what could be done to get people to clean up their yards. They said they have trouble renting properties because neighbor yards are so bad.

Council member Kelly Green, who is part of that group, has asked previously why nothing seems to get done. She said the same yards that were a problem three years ago are still a problem.

The city currently sends out letters and people have 30 days to respond. They can appeal, or agree to clean up the property. Eventually, they could be fined but that rarely happens.

Sweet said you need a process and you need to follow that process, and keep everything in writing. There needs to be consistent and even enforcement of the process.

“They have to know you are serious,” he said.

He said that while Wellington does have a process, it seems to be interpreted differently by different people.

“It also has to be in writing. If it is not in writing it didn’t happen,” he said.

He said he has policies and procedures in place in his town and they have all been approved by the council. When those things are followed, things run smoothly.

When there is a complaint, city staff has 48 hours to check it out and respond. That could be a notice of violation if there is a problem. They have so many days to respond to the city, and Sweet said those notices are in his name. People have to come to him to talk about the problem.

He said in most cases people fix the problem because they know there is a process in place, and that the city is serious.

Sweet added the city also works with people at times to help them, depending on the situation. People do fix up the property most of the time. He said sometimes there are people who do it over and over, but they just continue doing the process.

In Lyons people have 10 days to fix a problem, and if they don’t they have to meet with the city manager to talk about how it is going to get fixed. He said now most of the time people will fix things up if they understand you are serious about it.

If the problem is not fixed in the set amount of time they are taken to court. There is a fine of $100 to $500, and even the possibility of 30 days in jail. He said they have taken 20-30 people to court over the years, but he said most of the time people fix their property up when they understand the city will prosecute them if they don’t.

In Wellington the fine is $50.

Sweet said you have to be consistent and always follow the procedures.

“If you treat everyone the same, they will usually do the right thing. You cannot play favorites,” he said.

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