Time to Clean Up Around Town

Oh, you better not litter, you better not mess

Lamar Police will be at your address, code enforcement is out on the prowl.

They see you when you litter, or your weeds, you do not mow,

So you’d better pick up all that old junk and get it ready to go…OH!!!…

(With big apologies to John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie)

Code enforcement officers in Lamar have been busy since the start of the warm weather season. The daily police report over the past several weeks shows an increase of notices that have been issued to renters and homeowners for various violations, mostly on the general appearance of a yard. The weeds are starting to sprout.

If your home is tagged with a notice similar to a motel ‘do not disturb’ sign, it’s a notification that you have X number of days to comply with the violation. Specifically, you’re being cited for Lamar City Code Chapter 7, Articles II, III, IV and V regarding the accumulation of garbage, trash, litter, junk, debris, junk vehicles or weeds, all of which need to be removed from the property by a specific calendar date.

Failure to comply could result in criminal charges, and/or assessment of the costs to abate or correct the conditions in the form of a lien against your property. In past springs and summers, city crews have gone out to abandoned homes and taken care of the eyesore situation.

If you wish to contest the notice, you have 30 days to file a written application for an appeal once you’ve been notified about a junk car, or five days to clean up the weeds and garbage and debris. The notice also indicates you will be inspected again on a future calendar date.

Because of scheduling conflicts on almost every local calendar this year, the spring city clean up day will not be held, but city officials will discuss a date for a time in the fall. If you have any questions regarding your citation, you can call the Lamar city building department at 336-8025.