—Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Adri Sietstra A couch is pictured above on the curb near the old administration building on Beach Street. The city has seen a rise in nuisance items over the last three weeks.

The City of Webster City and the Webster City Police Department have received a large number of complaints regarding furniture and discarded appliances on curbs over the past few weeks.

“Over the past few weeks we’ve been seeing a lot more debris and miscellaneous items being placed on the curbs,” said Webster City City Manager Daniel Ortiz-Hernandez. “Some of it is furniture, some of it is appliances.”

Couches alone have been reported at the corner of Nancy Lane and Sunset Drive, Beach Street and First Street, 1512 Grove St., 1120 Kathy Lane, College Street and Locust Street, and other areas throughout the city.

“It’s just becoming a larger issue,” Ortiz-Hernandez said. “We’re trying to find ways to address how to educate the public, how to get them to be understanding and also be vigilant and aware that such items shouldn’t be left on the curb.”

He said that part of the problem was the public not being aware that this practice is against city code.

“There are just some people who don’t know that this shouldn’t be done and that there are municipal codes in place that prohibit that practice,” said Ortiz-Hernandez.

“It’s becoming more and more of a problem,” Ortiz-Hernandez said. “We have a running list a page long of just what we’re seeing and what we’re finding.”

One of the many factors contributing to the rise in nuisance items, according to Ortiz-Hernandez, is that residents see other residents placing their items on the curb and assume that the practice is okay.

“It seems that when someone leaves something out, someone else will see it and they’ll think it’s okay and want to do the same thing and place their own items out,” Ortiz-Hernandez said.

The Webster City Code of Ordinances states that garbage and trash are declared to be nuisances in Section 55.02 Declaration of Nuisances: “Garbage and Trash. The depositing of, maintaining, permitting or failing to remove, garbage, trash, rubbish, bottles, cans and other refuse on any property within the City, including large quantities of organic debris and materials, which accumulated by other than natural means, except neatly maintained compost piles.”

The Code of Ordinances also states that machinery and junk are declared to be nuisances: “The piling, storage or keeping of old machinery, junk, furniture, household furnishings or appliances or component parts thereof, or other debris within the City.”

Chapter 55.03 Nuisances prohibited, states that “The creation or maintenance of a nuisance is prohibited, and a nuisance, public or private, may be abated in the manner provided for in Chapter 9 or 56 of this Code of Ordinance.”

When the city or police department are notified about nuisance items, the city’s first move is to

“In the past, our code enforcement officer or building inspector, it was their responsibility to follow up with nuisance related items. They would make contact or generally send letters out to property owners telling them they had items on their yard or in front of their home that are a nuisance. They were asked to remove items from the curb,” said Ortiz-Hernandez.

Usually the city’s first step after receiving information about a nuisance issue is to speak with the property owner to see if the issue can be resolved.

“We try to work with the property owner,” said Ortiz-Hernandez. “If the property owner doesn’t address the issue, then the city’s options would be to file a municipal infraction or cite the property owner. The last recourse would be to take them to court to get a judge’s order to abate the issue.”

Residents can bring old couches and furniture to the landfill for a small fee. There is a minimum fee of $10, depending on the weight and amount of items dumped. The Trashman can also pick up certain items for a fee.

“You have to ask yourself what is the cost to the community of just leaving items on the curb. Both in terms of what the community looks like, it’s image, and how we portray ourselves to visitors. How we portray ourselves to kids growing up in the community,” said Ortiz-Hernandez.

“The rules of not leaving debris, they apply to both the right-of-ways, the streets and the alleys, but also on your property,” Ortiz-Hernandez said.

Citizens brought up their concerns with nuisance properties and items during Monday evening’s town hall meeting. Members of the council and residents agreed that a contributing factor has been a lack of community pride.

“We’re trying to keep a decent community,” Ortiz-Hernandez said. “There’s been a lot of conversation, such as comments made yesterday, about community pride and having lost some of that.”

Ortiz-Hernandez went on to explain that the ordinances are in place to help keep the community safe and healthy for residents and visitors. If citizens don’t clean up their yards and adhere to ordinances, it could lead to a more expensive fix by the city.

“If items are left out to the curb, if it’s left to the city to dispose of it, then unfortunately everyone has to pay for it,” said Ortiz-Hernandez. “We may have to look at increasing rates, increasing recycling rates, so that we can be able to afford the manpower and the cost of disposing such items.”

Ortiz-Hernandez hopes that members of the community will work together to restore some hometown pride to Webster City by cleaning up the city.

“What can we do as a community to take ownership and pride in our own community and ensure that we can help neighbors, we can ensure that our community will be clean and presentable, and will be a place that we can all call home?”