MITCHELL – On Monday, members of the Mitchell City Council continued ongoing discussions of increasing penalties for violating the city’s lawn maintenance ordinance, including doubling the hourly rate charged by the city to residents if their lawn must be mowed by city workers.
Currently, the city’s lawn ordinance states residents must keep their grass trimmed to a maximum of eight inches in height in a non-wooded area. Should their grass grow beyond that mark, they’re subject to a fine of $25 per day for 10 days. After 10 days, the fee increases to $50 per day until a city worker can come and cut the grass at a rate of $75 per hour for labor.
Mayor Nathan Jenkins and the city’s attorney John-Paul Isom both previously advised the council that the rates were too low compared to other municipalities. Jenkins previously suggested the city adopt fines of $140 on the first violation, $250 for the second, $500 for the third, and each time after with the total fine not to exceed $5,000.
At Monday’s meeting, members discussed increased the hourly rate for labor substantially, doubling it to $150 per hour should an employee need to mow a resident’s lawn.
Jenkins said that because of how low the current rates are, the city has residents who opt to just pay the city for the service instead of either completing it themselves or seeking someone else to do it, which takes city workers away from completing other tasks.
Some of the residents in attendance expressed concerns with the price increases, particularly for those who are disabled or otherwise unable to mow their own lawn. Jenkins responded, saying that he believed there would be residents in Mitchell willing to aid those in need, should the rates be increased.
“We’ve got a group of people that if somebody is in need and we know they’ll take care of the situation for them. I mean, we’re not out to make it hard on anybody,” he said. “We’re out to make them mow their own grass.”
Jenkins later noted that he doesn’t feel the issue is as much with residents who cannot mow their own lawns, but instead those who can but decide not to.
“There’s too many yards not being mowed and it’s mostly because they’re too lazy to do it,” said Jenkins.
The increased fees are meant to act as a deterrent for those residents defaulting to having the city mow their lawns, rather than a method of making money, according to Jenkins.
“The thing is, we don’t want their money. We don’t want to charge them $150. We just want them to mow their grass,” he said.
Following feedback from those in attendance, council president Larry Caudell suggested that perhaps the city keep a list of lawns in need of maintenance that could be accessed by residents either looking to help or willing to provide the service for a cost. He said the city’s new website should be ready sometime this week and that perhaps the information could be posted there.
The council will vote on the increases at their next meeting, which is set for April 3 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at City Hall.
