More Instances of Code Violations in O’Fallon as Foreclosures Spike

foreclosure

There are more and more instances of code violations in O’Fallon as foreclosures spike. The officials are struggling to enforce rules and adjust to new situation. They have given a new look to some of the old tools while conducting operations to handle the overwhelming number of code violations thanks to the deluge of foreclosures and the depressed number of housing sales.

O’Fallon’s Director of Building Safety, Nathan Lacey, informed the City Council last June that he had revamped the city’s approach to the code enforcement violations because of the staggering increase in number of empty foreclosed homes – both houses and plots in the residential sector of development. Speaking to Mayor Bill Hennessy he said, “At any given time we have up to 150 properties on the foreclosure list.”

Tom Drabelle, spokesperson of the City commented that similar to other cities and towns in the County, O’Fallon has been experiencing an abnormal increase in foreclosure numbers. This has led to the stalling of housing projects. Consequently the city has been burdened with violations of code – one being the problem of long grass.

The situation is grim with new constructions having slowed down on one side and code violations having increased on the other. Drabelle elaborated that the city officials have had to make adjustments to their duty schedules to manage the upward curve of code violations. For instance the building inspectors have less work load as hardly any new building are coming up. They have diverted their activities to join forces with code enforcement officials. Similarly the employees of Park Development are devoting more of their working hours to trimming the grass of vacant neglected properties.

The net result has been that the city has risen to the challenge of the times by expanding and diversifying its activities. The administrative departments have become more interactive in their operations. The city staff has access to intranet code enforcement map to locate the erring properties with code transgressions and to find out their level of violation. Drabelle said, “We’re calling on people within city staff to assist in areas where they haven’t been asked to assist before.”

The city administration is hopeful that the violations in houses that are still occupied will be addressed with the utilization of community block development grant of $270,000. Homeowners will now be able to make improvements to their homes with this money. The city is also offering to its residents $1,200 as grants from Project Home Golf Tournament – an annual event organized for this purpose.