Neighbors on West Madison Street in New Carlisle have gone to the city over unsanitary conditions at a house on their street.
The home, 611 W. Madison St., is abandoned and trash has built up in the backyard, along with dirt, rodents and mold, neighbors said.
“(We will) walk past and its just smells, it’s bad — and you can see the trash pile, it’s just so bad,” said Ashley Miller, who lives a few houses away at the corner of Ohio Avenue and West Madison Street.
“There’s mice and I’ve seen actually a raccoon walk across the street down there,” she said, worried about her toddler and young nephew who play on the street.
Piles of trash sit outside the back of the home. A tree snapped in the yard and landed on the back of the house, neighbors said, leaving a hole in the roof to let animals and water in.
Some neighbors called in complaints to the city about a month ago, New Carlisle City Manager Randy Bridge said.
The city immediately sent code enforcement officers to check the property, Bridge said. They noted the code violations and began the process to charge the homeowner and move to clean up the property.
“We have to give (property owners) ample time to correct the problem themselves,” Bridge said, before the city can clean it up.
The West Madison Street property is foreclosed and bank-owned, Bridge said, which makes it harder to contact the owners.
“You’re kind of looking for a needle in a haystack as far as what bank would have control over that particular property,” he said.
If code enforcement doesn’t hear from an owner in the next few days, Bridge said the city will step in within the next week to remove the trash. And will have to foot the clean-up bill up front.
City crews are paid $75 per man per hour for the work, Bridge said, plus added costs of Dumpster equipment the city will have to rent.
The cleanup bill will be sent to the listed property owner and if not paid, will be added to their property taxes, according to city rules.
“The tricky thing with that is if somebody doesn’t pay their taxes, it could be years before we see that money,” Bridge said.
Once the trash is picked up, if other sanitary issues, such as mold or rodent problems, the city could also choose to condemn the home, Bridge said.
Neighbors are happy to hear the mess should soon be gone.
“We need more of that kind of clean up around New Carlisle,” Miller said.