City cracks down on nuisances

If you have grass that is getting too long, snow that is getting too deep or junk piled up in your yard, you may hear from the City of Custer in the near future.

Beginning last summer, the City of Custer is stepping up its enforcement of nuisance ordinances that have been on the books for years —  much to the chagrin of some, but to the delight of others.

Tasked with the job of inspecting and telling people of their ordinance violations is Kim Conwell, the city’s community development technician. When Conwell was hired in August 2010, one of the tasks city community development director Rex Harris wanted her to focus on was ordinance enforcement.

Reports of the violations come from a variety of sources, including reports from a neighbor, city crew, city council members or Conwell herself when she is out inspecting.

Those in violation of the city’s nuisance ordinance are first sent a courtesy letter, followed by a certified letter. If letters from the city go unresponded to, Conwell attempts to contact the person. Conwell said those phone calls usually start out harsh, but end up on a good note. Eventually, if the resident refuses to take any action on the nuisance, city crews do the needed work and the landowner is billed. Some property is harder to deal with than others, as they have absentee landowners, or ownership is unclear altogether.