The Wellington City Council wants to clean the city up, but they don’t want to take a heavy handed approach to get there.
The council heard from Winfield Environmental Inspector John Adams at a work session meeting Thursday and talked about various ideas to improve the city’s appearance.
Adams said he spends three hours per day looking around Winfield to find areas that need cleaning up. He said they are more proactive in their approach, and not complaint driven as many towns are. Adams said he tries to get a buy in from people, as opposed to forcing them to clean up property.
“Enforcement is the last resort,” Adams said. “It is not a money making thing. Our return on investment is about 20-25 percent.”
He said Winfield puts a door hanger note on people’s doors asking them to mow grass when it gets more than 12 inches tall. They have five days to comply, and if not, they will get a certified letter and they will have 30 days to get the situation taken care of. From there city of Winfield hires contractors to do the work and the homeowner gets the bill. It can be added to their taxes.
People have a right to request a meeting with city officials, and there a solution can be worked out.
(Read more: Sumner NewsCow)