Council member takes after city "eyesore"

A vacated house in Electric City may have as many as 15 nuisance ordinance violations, according to Councilmember Brad Parrish, who lives close by.

Parrish, who lives on Washington Place, asked City Clerk Jackie Perman to put the nuisance ordinance issue on the docket for last Tuesday night's meeting.

Parrish then went on to show pictures of the untidy place and point out that the door has been left open and that he has seen pack rats around the place.

He asked that something be done about it, but after considerable conversation he learned how difficult it was to get action in such matters.

Mayor Jerry Sands reported that code compliance officer Gary Haven had been working the streets and was having some successes in getting people to clean up their properties.

Parrish stated that the property in question, at 216 Electric Place, is owned by the Colville Tribal Credit and that a call there hadn't been productive.

The Star called officials at Tribal Credit, but the call was unanswered.

Pictures Parrish showed included some items tossed about the yard. Parrish stated that the appearance of the house and yard was reducing the value of his own place.

"Why should anyone in this community be subjected to this?" he asked.

Parrish also wanted to know how long it would take to get the place cleaned up.

Sands described a lengthy process the city has used in similar cases.

"We have $5,000 liens against two properties in the city now," Sands stated. The city can collect these liens if the respective properties are sold.

Parrish submitted a packet of nuisance ordinances he had collected from around the state.

The issue probably will not die there because of the nature of the violations at the Electric Place property.