Staff writer
Peabody Police Chief Bruce Burke announced recently that his department will turn over to the city a list of properties in violation of mowing ordinances on Friday.
“We have a list of violators complied,” he said. “We will be turning that list in to the city at the end of the week and letters will go out to tenants and/or property owners.”
The letters will be sent by certified mail and the property must be mowed within five days of delivery of the letter.
If the property does not get mowed in that amount of time, city employees will mow it and bill the property owner. The bill must be paid within 30 days of mowing. If the property owner refuses to pay the bill, the charges will go on his property tax bill with the county.
“It is expensive to have the city do the mowing,” City Administrator Mac Manning said. “The charge is $100 just for them to show up and start mowing. Plus it is $100 per hour or fraction of an hour after that.”
Once the property has been cited by certified letter, the city is not required to contact the property owner or tenant again if an additional violation occurs. Once the grass reaches a height of 12 inches, city employees will show up again to mow and bill the owner for the additional charges.
Both Burke and Manning urged residents to take responsibility for their own mowing rather than pile up excessive charges by having the city do it. For more information about the mowing ordinance, contact Manning at the city building at (620) 983-2174.