The tug-of-war over cleanup of Butler County resident Robert "Bob" Johnson's property is still in full swing nearly seven years after the initial complaint against his property was received by the county.
During Tuesday's Butler County Commission meeting, Johnson asked the commissioners to waive fees the county incurred for the cleanup of Johnson's property in 2007.
"I’m faced with having to pay that $58,000," Johnson told the commissioners. "I’m asking for you at this time to rescind the $58,000 you paid the contractor and let's start from square one."
Johnson maintains that he was making progress in the cleanup of his property near Douglass, and that a contractor hired by the county to complete the cleanup removed items that didn't need to be taken away.
Johnson also said he was not trying to rebel against the county during this years-long process, and that Clarence Daggett, who retired from the planning and zoning department in 2008, didn't give Johnson or the commissioners proper information during the cleanup process.
It was brought to the commissioners' attention recently that Johnson was planning to pay the $58,000 in cleanup fees but would like to have around $9,000 in penalties and interest waived.
The commissioners unanimously agreed to waive the penalties and interest, although Commissioner Peggy Palmer asked that the whole amount be waived. Commissioner Bruce Harris pointed out that payment of the $58,000 was ordered by the district court, and if Johnson was not the one to pay it, Butler County taxpayers would be left with the bill.
After a discussion at their Monday meeting, the commissioners tabled any action regarding all of the fees, and on Tuesday Johnson and several of his neighbors came to reiterate Johnson's request. At this time, Johnson asked the commissioners to waive all the charges that had been assessed to him. He also said he would not be able to pay the cleanup fee unless he sold his property.
Commissioners Harris, Jeff Masterson, Mike Wheeler and Dan Woydziak expressed some concern about waiving the cleanup fee, as they felt Johnson was given enough time to clean up his property before the situation entered the court system.
"This board doesn’t have anything against Bob," said Masterson. "I don’t dislike Bob. This was a court ordered situation. I don’t have anything personally against Bob."
The commissioners plan to revisit Johnson's request to have the fees waived during their meeting next week.
A history of the cleanup process
Robert Johnson was served a notice his property near Douglass was not in compliance with the county sanitary code on Nov. 29, 2004.
On Dec. 30, 2005, a petition for injunction and abatement was submitted to the district court and three months later, a permanent injunction was placed on the property, which gave him until Aug. 11, 2006 to bring the property into compliance.
On Feb. 14, 2007, District Judge Mike Ward ruled that since Johnson was still in non-compliance, he would need to spend every weekend in the County Detention Facility, which he did until May 22, 2007, when he was no longer required to do so.
On April 24, 2007, the county passed a resolution declaring the property a nuisance, which was appealed eight days later. Gail Jensen, who then served as Johnson’s legal counsel, tried to show the commission progress was being made and asked for another 90 days to clean everything up.
The commissioners rejected Jensen’s request, because they felt they had already given Robert Johnson enough time.
In June 2007, Johnson told the commissioners, “It really does not help when you work that hard and then to be told that you’ve done nothing. I have spent 28 days in jail. Honorable Mr. Ward said that would motivate me. Believe me gentlemen, I am motivated, but I would like to ask for enough time to do the job right.”
The commissioners decided to solicit bids from scrappers for clean up, a process that took 45 days.
“During that time, the more work you can get done, the better off we’ll all be,” former Commissioner Randy Waldorf told Johnson at the time. “I would encourage you to use your time as wisely as the weather would allow.”
The commissioners received the bids on July 17, 2007, and subsequently cleaned up the property.
The bill, which was around $58,000 was sent to Johnson, with the stipulation that if he could not pay it within three years, his property would go to the county tax sale.
In June 2009, Johnson filed suit against the commissioners for $75,000. That case was resolved earlier this year, with a U.S. District judge ruling in favor of Butler County.
On Feb. 25, 2011, after reviewing the case, U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren dismissed Johnson's lawsuit against the county. In his detailed report, Melgren found "[T]he County went through years of notice in the form of letters, hearings, agreed orders and multiple second chances to Johnson. Despite all of this notice, Johnson never complied, and the County finally had to abate the nuisance itself. ... The record is clear that Johnson received an abundance of notice, and thus his due process rights were not violated."
In other business Tuesday, the commission:
• denied a request for a Conditional Use Permit to allow Bob Bergkamp Construction to establish a rock quarry on an 86-acre tract of land in the AG-40 Agricultural zoning district. The planning commission had recommended denial.
• denied a request for a Conditional Use Permit to allow Dena Leath to utilize a property located in the RR Rural Residential zoning district to operate a landscape business. The planning commission had recommended denial.
• approved a request by Ken McClure for a Homestead Lot Split with APO in order to separate an existing homestead and 5 acres from a parcel containing approximately 80 acres.
• approved a request by Benita Cravens for a Homestead Lot Split with APO in order to separate an existing homestead and 7 acres from a parcel containing approximately 40 acres.
• approved a request by Michael G. Leis to rezone 37.9 acres from an AG-40 zoning classification to an RR Rural Residential zoning classification.
• approved a request by James and Jacquelyn Ash to rezone 4.38 acres in two separate tracts from an AG-40 zoning classification to an R Residential zoning classification.
• approved the tabled recommendations from the steering committee for the changes in grade and job description for various positions within the county. The motion passed 4-1 with Palmer opposed.
• approved a contract in the amount of $30,000 with Poe & Associates, which will work on a proposal to TransCanada for repairs to River Valley Road. The commission's approval was contingent on TransCanada's agreement.
• approved the purchase of a pickup truck for the building and grounds department.
