Sheldon, Iowa — Crews began work this morning (Monday, December 28th) to clean up the nuisance property at 1320 South 3rd Avenue.
The mobile home situated on that property was decimated by fire this past Easter Sunday and since that time the property’s owner, Kevin Crafton, and the City of Sheldon have been at odds over the property’s future. On December 15th an O’Brien County judge ordered that the City of Sheldon was authorized to clean up the property, including the removal of the mobile home’s carcass and the junk that Crafton has collected on the property.
KIWA reached City Manager Sam Kooiker Monday morning and he says the situation is finally coming to an end.
Kooiker says the City tried to work with Crafton for several months to get the situation resolved, but finally had to file a nuisance charge against him.
He says the mess on the property was exacerbated during Sheldon’s Clean Up Week, when Crafton brought even more junk onto the property.
We asked Kooiker what happens now that the clean up of the property is complete.
Kooiker tells KIWA that he hated having to take Crafton to court, but all other options had been exhausted and Crafton has made it clear, by his actions, that he did not intend to clean up the property on his own. He says crews began work on cleaning up the property early Monday morning and the work was completed by early afternoon.
Before and after photos of the property at 1320 South 3rd Avenue in Sheldon may be viewed below.
