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No money for weed abatement

Story by Liz Zamora (Contact)

4:50 p.m. Friday, May 9, 2008

"What is that, two foot?"

Code Enforcement officer Dennis Boyles shows us some weeds in Southwest Topeka that have gotten out of control. According to the weed ordinance, they can't grow taller than twelve inches.

"We send a letter and seven days from the letter, we come back out and inspect it," Boyles said.

Then the City would give the owner a $105 fine and the abatement team would mow the yard or lawn, regardless of whether that fine was paid.

But this year Boyles says, "There is no money in the budget to pay the contractor to mow it like we've done in the past."

So the weeds and grass in the empty yards and lots will continue to grow. Neighbor Jeff Lane is fixing up this house and wants to sell it. But an empty lot is next door.

Lane says, "If we gotta mow it, we'll mow it ourselves. It would be better if the city or whoever owned it took care of it a little better."

But we found some weeds in Central Topeka that were even higher.

If you have an easement on your property, it's still your responsibility to mow it even if you have weeds as high as this outside your fence.

And if there is money that would become available for abatement, Boyles says it will be tough playing catch up.

"It will be a mess. It's bad enough when you're just staying on, but that you're two weeks behind, it will be a lot worse," he said.

There was $60,000 in the budget allotted for weed abatement. But that money was included in the $220,000 in cuts for the Public Works Department. Money collected from fines go into the City's general fund and not for weed abatement.