Opp council abates property again
Published 12:20 am Wednesday, September 21, 2016
After continued neighbor complaints, the Opp City Council abated a Rush Street property Monday night.
“The neighbors have been complaining of the property being overgrown,” said Opp Mayor John Bartholomew. “The owner has been called several times and there has been no resolution.”
The council agreed that the 305 Rush Street property was a public nuisance and was in violation of the city’s ordinance on weeds and overgrown lots.
The city abated the property in September 2011, when City Clerk Connie Smith said she sent a letter to the property owners and the documented mortgage holder of the property.
In May 2012, the city council again abated the property for weeks and overgrown lots.
In July 2013, the city abated the property once again.
Councilman T.D. Morgan, who has been at the forefront of an ongoing discussion about abating property, and is known to be against tearing down properties, made the motion to abate the property for cleanup purposes only.
“I don’t believe in tearing down anybody’s house, but I do believe in cleaning up,” he said.