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STARKVILLE — Starkville Board of Aldermen unanimously approved Aug. 6 the use of a section in state code that will speed up how quickly the city can clean up certain neglected properties.
The second section of Mississippi Code 21-19-11, which was enacted after the 2022 legislative session, allows cities to clean up certain properties that are a blight or violation within a week of identifying them.
Under section two of Mississippi Code § 21-19-11 the city can clean up certain properties that are a blight or violation within a week of identifying them.
What does the code allow? What will it change about current code enforcement?
What does the code allow?
Under the code section, the city can authorize certain city officials — in this case the mayor, the building official and the code enforcement sergeant — to determine when a property is a threat to public health, safety and welfare. For example, a vacant property covered with debris, glass and overgrown grass may be declared a public menace due to the possibility that someone may get hurt on the property.
“That allows us to be the final determiner that, yes this is a property that’s appropriate for that purpose, and take it immediately to the board or the next board meeting to have the board bless it,” Mayor Lynn Spruill told The Dispatch on Friday.
But there are some stipulations within the code section. The property in question must be less than one acre, and the cost of cleaning must be less than $250, excluding administrative costs. It’s intended for smaller cleanup jobs, Spruill said, like mowing and removing rubbish.
Spruill said during the board meeting that the city put out a bid for a contractor to help with the jobs, but so far there’s been no takers.
“We haven’t found anybody, so for the time being until we find someone, we’re going to be using our sanitation department who currently does mowing,” she told The Dispatch.
How does it change the current hearing process?
Spruill said the motivation for adopting the code is the expedited process it allows for getting certain properties cleaned up.
Normally when a code enforcement officer identifies a neglected property, the city gives the property owner two weeks’ notice that the board will hold a public hearing to determine whether the property can be declared as a menace to public health and safety.
If the property is deemed to be a public menace, the city then must wait 10 days before taking action against the property to give the owner a final chance to address the issue.
Under Section 2 of Mississippi Code § 21-19-11, Spruill said the process is quicker. Once an authorized representative identifies a neglected property that is less than an acre, the city must send the owner a seven-day notice of a public hearing.
“And if nobody shows up (to the hearing), which they probably for the most part will not, we are cleared to go in and get it cleaned up,” she said.
Properties that are larger than one acre or require more than $250, excluding administrative costs to clean — such as a property where the city would condemn a building for demolition — will still be subject to the two-week notice and 10-day waiting period.
After the city cleans up the property, the owner could face a penalty of either paying $100 or the total cost of cleaning the property, whichever is more, according to state code. When it comes to mowing, Spruill said it would cost the owner $300 per mow. If the owner fails to comply, the city can place a tax lien on the property or take the owner to municipal court.
Where did this become a thing?
Spruill said Starkville hasn’t used Section Two of code § 21-19-11 before now. It stipulates that the property in question must be within a municipality that has a population of more than 1,500. Previously, Spruill said, it was specific to cities with a population above 25,000, which disqualified Starkville.
But the code was amended during the 2022 legislative session.
Columbus has utilized the section since that year. Columbus Code Enforcement Assistant Veronica Stewart told The Dispatch on Tuesday that it was first used to handle a property in November 2022.
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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