MORGANTOWN — Going back to May 8, the Monongalia County Abandoned and Dilapidated Property Enforcement Agency has moved 13 properties to the complaint stage of the county’s enforcement process.
That includes eight properties approved by the Monongalia County Commission on Wednesday.
County Litter Control Officer Alex Hall explained each of the properties have been on the county’s radar for “a significant amount of time.”
They are: 203A Number 8 Hollow; 64 and 66 Pursglove Road.; 1 Cassville Mt. Morris Road; 2989 Fairmont Road; 3996 Fairmont Road; Curtis Avenue (the Walden property); 129 and 131 Dug Hill Road; and 485 Scotts Run Road.
Hall said receiving a formal complaint from the county is when the clock begins in earnest.
“Once that letter goes out, they have 60 days to complete the needed work. Once that 60 days is up, it is automatically going into the fine phase. That is $100 a day and it lasts for 90 days,” he said.
After that, the county can clear the property, put a lien against it and ultimately have it sold to recoup any taxpayer dollars used in the process.
The commission approved the issuance of complaints to four properties in June — 62 Brock Mine Road; 816 Mason Dixon Highway; 140 West Jackson Street; and 2363 Fairmont Road.
“All the properties that went into the complaint phase in June haven’t even been touched. So, they’re going to be moving into that fine phase,” Hall said. “Not replying just leads us to move on to the next step.”
On the other hand, Hall explained, the owners of a Tunnel Street property remedied the county’s concerns and closed their case after receiving a complaint in May.
The county does not operate under state building code or the International Property Maintenance Code — a subsection of the full building code.
It operates under its own abandoned and dilapidated property ordinance. First adopted in 1998, it spells out the process enforced by a volunteer board and the county commission.
The problem, Hall explained, has been keeping enough members on the agency to be able to move cases along.
The board had to be completely repopulated when Hall took the job in April 2023. Prior to that, it spent more than eight months in limbo.
“A lot of this was just getting that board re-established. We didn’t have anybody on the board volunteering, so we didn’t have a quorum to be able to move these things in front of the commission,” he said.
The county ordinance mandates the body be comprised of the county’s litter control officer, a designee of the sheriff, a representative of the county health department, the county engineer or similarly qualified employee, and two at-large representatives.
Jason Stinespring, Westover’s public works director, is one of the at-large members and serves as the body’s chairman.
Instead of relying on Hall alone to locate potential litter offenses and dilapidated properties over 366 square miles, the county has moved to a complaint-based system.
Complaint forms are available at the Monongalia County Commission office or online at monongaliacounty.gov/dap_citizen_complaint_form.php
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