SABINA — Some empty houses here, which can serve as reminders of former residents, are now regarded as problem properties.
At Thursday night’s village council meeting, Mayor Dean Hawk said a police officer gave him a list of 29 abandoned houses where people are sneaking in to make drugs or are living in them without water or electricity.
“The police get called out by neighbors who report activity in these houses and the officers, often alone, must go in and find whatever may be in there, often risking falling through a hole in the floor or encountering other hazards in the dark,” reported Hawk.
The mayor said he has organized Officer Connie Roberts’ list of houses and he is in the process of finding out who owns each one, its tax status, and he is going around observing their conditions and seeing whether there are signs it is getting worked on.
“At some time soon I will be making a recommendation about each house, whether it needs to be torn down, fixed up or boarded up,” said Hawk.
Some of the houses already are on the list of the Clinton County Land Reutilization Corporation or “land bank,” he noted.
Established by the Clinton County commissioners in 2016, the mission of the land bank is to address the issue of vacant, abandoned properties, and tax-delinquent properties in the county. The land bank provides the county with a tool capable of transferring, demolishing or rehabilitating such properties.
Sabina Police Chief Keynon Young also referred Thursday night to the problem of abandoned, neglected houses. He said the structures that have windows broken out or unsecured doors are especially likely to be entered by people who are not authorized to be there.
Reach Gary Huffenberger at 937-556-5768.
