A day in the life

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Editor’s note: To better understand the responsibilities of Sidney Code Enforcement Officer Arthur Franklin, the Sidney Daily News spent an afternoon with him to learn more about his job and some of the violations he looks for.

SIDNEY – Sidney Code Enforcement Officer Arthur Franklin drives around Sidney every day, making his way through the whole city by the time he’s done and stopping at points along the way to address complaints. He looks at businesses and residences alike as well as properties surrounding complaint areas. He said the most calls he’s addressed is 28 in one day.

“You gotta pick and choose your battles. When someone tells on someone, that’s different,” Franklin said. “This is the toughest job because people hate when you tell them to do something to their own properties.”

Along the ride, violations included broken garage doors, crumbling foundation, junk vehicles and a mattress on a porch, to name a few. When he sees a property maintenance violation, Franklin gives a property owner 90 days after sending an initial letter, then he sends another letter and allows some time before he takes further action, which could include taking a property owner to court, which Franklin said he’s never had to do. Franklin said exceptions to giving a property owner time to clean things up and would require immediate action would be if the situation is dangerous, like items in a right-of-way or items that are piled and could fall over.

According to section 1313.20 of Sidney’s code of ordinances, a code official cannot specify a time of less than 30 days for the property owner to repair a structure and must specify the needed repairs in the letter that is sent to the property owner.

Franklin works with city contractors for junk abatement and lawn mowing and weed cutting and provides the contractor with a description of the violations on the property to be cleaned up. Calling a contractor to remove junk costs $46 plus an administrative fee of 20% and additional fees depending on the type of items removed from a property, according to the city’s junk abatement pay schedule and section 521.095 of the code. All junk assessments not paid within 10 days will be collected with taxes.

For junk, rubbish and garbage as specified in section 521.095 of the code, owners are given a minimum of two days in a public area or adjacent to a public area and a minimum of five days in a non-public area or a reasonable amount of time designated by a code official to remove items.

Lawn care done by a contractor costs $75 for the first time, $150 for the second time, and $250 for every time after that, according to section 553.04 of the code.

Before a contractor gets paid, they must send before and after pictures of the property and provide disposal receipts on invoices.

According to the code, the city will only send a grass and weed violation once per year, and seven days after the notification with no action from the property owner will cause the city to take action. Regarding abandoned or junked motor vehicles, they must be removed within seven days of a notice or risk the vehicle being impounded. In this instance, the owner can request a hearing with the city manager within the seven days to try to reverse the charges. If the violation deals with exterior paint, the owner can appeal to a Citizens Peer Review Committee within 30 days of a written notice and must pay a $15 filing fee, according to sections 521.12 and 1313.064 of the code, respectively.

During the ride, Franklin took a call from a woman who wanted a tire back that she thought was taken from her property without merit by a contractor. She said she had done work on her property to get it up to code and the tire was going to be used. He called the contractor to tell him to bring it back but advised the woman that she would still have to pay a fee.

He responded to people who have issues with certain items being taken from their properties by saying, “Contractors are educated on what they can and can’t take. Before they are released on their own, I, personally, go out with them to make sure that they have a full understanding of parameters of being a city contractor and what they can and can’t do. They understand that doing anything contrary to what they are contracted to do will result in immediate termination of their contract.”

Despite this, the contractors could still cause issues for the city, like telling a property owner their property looks fine without having the authority to do so and not abating certain items if the contractor knows the owner.

Franklin, who is originally from Georgia, has been the code enforcement officer for almost three years and has two master’s degrees; one in criminal justice and one in public administration. This summer, he will undergo training in the police academy and will be allowed to carry a weapon in preparation for his new role as a mixture of a code enforcement officer and a park ranger, which was discussed by City Council in September during the review of the five-year financial plan. The city will hire a new full-time code enforcement officer and Franklin will help train them.

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