While it’s hard to see from the roadway, the property at 1015 E. Main St. is overflowing with trash.

WARSAW — The city has been receiving complaints about a local property since November 2017. The residence at 1015 E. Main St., was the hot topic during the code enforcement hearing held yesterday, Aug. 7. The property is owned by Jason and Bobby Wade.

Code Enforcement Officer Dana Hewitt stated that the yard is often full of trash and clutter. He said the couple seems to have a history of cleaning up the yard right before a code enforcement meeting and then letting the clutter accumulate again.

“On a code hearing day it may appear cleaned up, but every other day there’s a lot of debris, clutter and junk on the property,” said Hewitt. “It’s gotta go and it’s gotta stay away.”

Jason Wade testified that he is cleaning up the property and that the process takes time. His testimony became heated as he accused Hewitt of denying his residence a fence permit and entering his garage.

Hewitt defended himself saying that he has nothing to do with fence permits. He notified Wade that a fence permit has been waiting for him to pick up at the city office since July. He further denied entering the garage, “not once have I ever gone into his garage.” Hewitt claimed that even if someone wanted to, they wouldn’t be able to enter the garage due to the large amount of trash inside.

Hearing Officer Tom Earhart showed the Wades no sympathy. He gave the couple two weeks to completely clean the property. If the property is not cleaned up in two weeks, a $100 fine will occur each day that the trash remains.

It was noted that Brad Eberly, owner of 1627 Fisher Ave., was absent because he was appearing in Kosciusko Superior Court that morning for his residence. The residence continues to accumulate trash and nothing has been done about it so further steps were taken with the court system. The residence was continued to the next hearing date on Sept. 18, to follow up with further action based on the court’s decision.

The old car wash at 2516 E. Center St., remains standing. The large sign has been removed and a demolition permit has been pulled for the property. No actual demolition work has begun. It was noted that the owners, Dash Mesh LLC have failed to maintain the property by mowing and controlling weeds until the demolition occurs. This property will be addressed again at the next hearing.

In other news:

• The residence at 1712 Willow Lane, owned by James and Ellen Devlin, was dismissed due to compliance. A shed had been placed in a set-back but has since been moved.
• Patricia Smith has been making progress in cleaning up her residence at 721 N. Cook St. It was noted that the work is about 40 percent complete and the case was continued until the hearing on Sept. 18.
• Adessa Williams; residence at 2119 Hendricks St. was also continued until Sept. 18. He has been making progress and it was noted that everytime a city official stops by he is out there working on the property.
• The property at 620 N. Union St. has been sold to a builder. The builder has a permit and plans to renovate and sell the property. The case was dismissed.
• The property at 519 N. Park Ave., owned by Faviola Duran, was continued until Sept. 18. Two contractors have been working on the residence to get it up to code.
• The property at 3521 Lake City Highway, owned by Hari Om Inc., appears to be in the final stages. The property was continued until the next hearing.
• Stephen and Princene Moore’s residence at 1422 E. Main St., remains in the deed in lieu process. The property was continued until Sept. 18.
• The property at 1825 Michaels St., previously owned by Virginia Adams was dismissed. Adams has died and her son has taken over the residence. He has successfully brought the residence up to code.