By NICOLE CARTRETTE

Town Manager Dottie Thomas was told to clean up Chadbourn a year ago when she was hired. Thomas told Town Council recently that she and the town staff are doing just that, as well as cracking down on property owners who haven’t paid their taxes.

The town is garnisheeing rental income, wages, and bank accounts to collect on past due property taxes that totaled more than $471,000 in principal alone at the end of April. Some debts date back to 1995.

“I am going after everything I can get,” Tax Collector Wendy Johnson said. Johnson has collected more than $40,000 in past due taxes in the past two weeks.

Johnson and law enforcement officers have told some tenants to pay their rent to the town.

One tenant at last week’s Town Council meeting said she feared being evicted if she paid her rent to the town rather than to her landlord, Harold Walker. As of May 4, the town had garnisheed $1,017 in rent on property owned by Walker.

Walker, owner of Oakwood Homes of Chadbourn, owed more than $3,000 in past due taxes on more than 10 properties he rents. Walker said he did not know if he received a tax notice and has been ill with a heart condition. On May 5, three days after the council meeting, Walker paid his full tax bill.

At the council meeting, Walker was also accused of code violations.

Traci Underwood, a tenant who has rented a house from Walker for two years, said she pushes her stove to the back door to keep it secured at night because it does not lock.

“I have to run my kids’ bathwater hot and wait for it to cool down,” she said.

The broken bathtub faucet makes it impossible to adjust water temperature, she said. Underwood covers bare floors with ripped linoleum throughout the house with throw rugs. A plastic container sits under her leaky kitchen sink to catch water, she said.

Walker said that he is not aware of any bare floors in his houses and fixes problems when they are brought to his attention. He admits that he has not fixed Underwood’s door. One of Underwood’s family members kicked the door in, Walker said.

“I only hear problems when people are past due on their rent,” he said, adding that Underwood owes more than $600 in past due rent.

Walker said he often makes repairs to things such as broken windows that the tenants are responsible for breaking.

A new ordinance passed at the May 2 meeting allows part-time contract code enforcement officer John Ganus to make sure broken widows are fixed, high grass is cut, junk cars are removed from yards, and unsafe buildings are repaired or demolished.

Owners can be fined $50 per day for each violation and potentially charged with a misdemeanor if they fail to abide by the code or refuse to adhere to a written notice, Ganus said.

The new approach to code enforcement is to make owners fix abandoned buildings in need of repair or pay for them to be demolished, said Thomas, who is targeting abandoned buildings and businesses along Brown Street.

Residents expressed mixed concern over the issue. Some tenants on fixed incomes fear rental fees will be increased.

Others, like Underwood, see the new ordinance as an opportunity to bring attention to what may be substandard conditions in rental properties.

A few residents said they worry the ordinance may unfairly target elderly residents who are financially unable to meet code requirements

“Everybody deserves a decent place to live,” Thomas said. “It is not our intention to go after little old ladies.”

Ganus will schedule inspections, if needed, with the property owner or tenant of dwellings that may be in violation. He said he would notify owners of violations in writing or schedule a hearing.

Owners will be given a reasonable amount of time to fix minor problems such as leaky faucets, he said. More serious public nuisances such as caved in roofs or major fire damage will be handled more aggressively.

“We will give them an opportunity to rectify things on their own as opposed to the town doing it and putting a lien on the property,” Thomas said.

Town Attorney Butch Pope assured residents that the new ordinance included an appeal process on any decision or order of the housing inspector. Violators have 10 days to appeal a warning citation to the Board of Adjustment in most cases, according to the ordinance.

One month after her arrival, Thomas began the hunt for a code enforcement officer.

“When I first came to Chadbourn people said ‘clean it up,’” Thomas remembered.

Finding a qualified code enforcement officer on a limited budget was difficult, she said. Then she found out about Tabor City’s contracted code enforcement with Benchmark LLC, a local government services firm based in Kannapolis.

Ganus, who contracts with the Town of Brunswick, charges $50.40 per hour under a contract that can be cancelled at any time.

Fees incurred by the town can be charged and recouped from the property owners because it is a contracted position, said Thomas. “It fits what we need.”

In other business last week, Wellonton Apartment residents accused the Chadbourn Police Department of not patrolling the area and complained of criminal activity taking place regularly. Police Chief Steven Shaw insisted the area is patrolled but indicated residents need to contact police immediately upon witnessing such activity.

Newly appointed council member Larry Williamson took his oath of office. The council named Williamson to fill the vacant seat of the late David Lawrence on April 4.

Council also adopted a flood damage prevention ordinance mandated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.