Sheldon, Iowa — A Review of Compliance hearing arising from a judge’s order in October, was held Tuesday morning in O’Brien County court at Primghar.
The hearing was held in the case of the owner of a mobile home that was decimated by fire on Easter Sunday of this year.
The City of Sheldon had declared the burned-out mobile home, which is owned by Kevin Crafton and located at 1320 South 3rd Avenue, a nuisance and had ordered its removal, with a deadline for completion of August 5th.
Crafton was granted a hearing before the Sheldon City Council at their July 1st meeting. Following that hearing, the Council affirmed their August 5th deadline for Crafton to have the home removed and the property cleared.
When the August 5th date passed without the property being cleaned up, the City filed a Nuisance Complaint with the court.
The case came before the court on October 20th and City Manager Sam Kooiker says the city had asked the judge to give Crafton a two-week deadline for cleaning up the property. Instead, the judge gave Crafton until December 15th to have the trailer repaired or removed and the property cleaned up. In addition, the judge assessed Crafton a civil penalty of $750, plus court costs and any applicable fees. The city also asked the judge to order Crafton to not bring anymore junk onto the property.
The hearing this Tuesday morning was to review Crafton’s compliance with the judge’s October 20th order. City Manager Sam Kooiker says Crafton failed to attend Tuesday’s hearing and, from evidence presented by the City, the judge ruled that the City of Sheldon can now go in and clean up the South 3rd Avenue property that is still home to Crafton’s burned-out mobile home, as well as a considerable amount of junk that Kooiker says was brought onto the property after the October ruling that barred him from doing so, including a large planter on the city right-of-way, emblazoned with the words, “Better Now?”. After the clean up is complete, the City will assess the costs of the operation to Crafton.
Kooiker says the issue will be brought before the City Council at their Wednesday meeting this week and the City will proceed with getting bids for completion of the clean up of the property.
Some images of the Crafton property may be seen below. Photos courtesy of the City of Sheldon……..
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Original Post 3:45 pm, October 20, 2020
Sheldon, Iowa — The case against the owner of a mobile home that was decimated by Fire Easter Sunday was heard in O’Brien County court in Primghar Tuesday.
The City of Sheldon had declared Kevin Crafton’s mobile home, at 1320 South 3rd Avenue, a nuisance and had ordered its removal. Crafton requested a hearing in front of the Sheldon City Council, which was held July 1st. During that hearing, Crafton told the Sheldon City Council that he is a musician and an artist and he views the remnants from the fire as art, and informed the council that he planned to live in the part of the trailer that remained standing. The City had ordered Crafton to have the premises cleared by August 5th. At the public hearing, Crafton told the council that he needed more time to get that done. But, he would not set a timeline for the completion and could not come up with a cost estimate for the work. Following the hearing, the council voted to affirm the notice with the August 5th deadline.
When the August 5th deadline passed without the property being cleaned up, the city filed a nuisance complaint with the court. That case came before the court Tuesday, and City Manager Sam Kooiker says the city had asked the judge to give Crafton a two-week deadline for cleaning up the property. Instead, the judge gave Crafton until December 15th to have the trailer repaired or removed and the property cleaned up. In addition, the judge assessed Crafton a civil penalty of $750, plus court costs and any applicable fees. The city also asked the judge to order Crafton to not bring anymore junk onto the property.
Another hearing in the matter was set for December 15th.
The order issued Tuesday can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.
