The vast majority of the folks living in our community do a great job keeping their properties clean and neat. There is a lot of pride here but there are few properties that are disaster impacting the health, welfare and even property values of the community. The Copper Cove Association is working with multiple agencies of Calaveras County to help clean up these disasters. Recently the Copper Cove Association took part in a joint effort to clean up one of the worse located at 3589 Signal Hill Trail. It now owned by a bank.
Participants
The Calaveras County Sheriffs Office, County Code Compliance, Animal Control, County Supervisor Dennis Mills, Copper Cove Association Director Jack Cox and CCA facilities manager Aaron Greene all took part in a site visit. The two story home could only be described as an environmental and residential nightmare which was once again red-tagged by County Code Compliance. All cleaning crew members must wear productive clothing. The home is now vacant but filled with cats and who knows what other animals.
Code Compliance
Reba Davis, Calaveras County Code Officer, has taken the lead in over seeing the enforcement of county codes and the massive cleanup of the house. Depending upon the clean up of the home and its state it could be demolished due to significant environmental contamination.
The joint agency visit focused on the ultimate disposition of the house. All participants were concerned about the blight of having a house that was boarded up for an extended period in the subdivision. All parties agreed that continued pressure would be placed on the financial institution to correct this situation. Should the bank fail in its obligations, possible steps to complete a total abatement of the property may be pursued by Code Compliance
Currently there is a cleaning crew hired by the financial institution to clean the interior of the house. The interior clean-up is supposed to be completed by August 28, 2018 but in looking at the condition of the property that task may be impossible to accomplish by that date.
As soon as the interior is cleaned all exterior windows/doors are scheduled to be boarded up to prevent entry into the structure.
Vehicles
The property is filled with vehicles that are unlicensed and broken down. One neighbor told investigators that one car had not been moved in a decade. Code Compliance is working on developing an abatement contract with local tow companies for the removal of the vehicles parked on the property, as well as the vacant land across the street. Code Compliance estimates that the vehicles should be completely removed from the property by mid-September 2018.
Animal Control
Animal Services Manager Ethan Jacobs estimated that his department, should have cat traps in place at the property this week. He expressed concern about the accidental trapping of non-feral cats, and asked that the neighbors be advised of the operation in the event that domestic cats were accidentally trapped. He further stated that any wildlife trapped would be released at the property.
CCA Code Violations
Aaron Green is working to assist officers in citing and/or instituting fines to help get the property cleaned. The HOA will be coordinating directly with County Code Compliance.
The CCA thanks the Sheriff’s Office for its attention to this serious problem and the over all security of our community. Lieutenant Chris Hewitt noted that SO Patrol deputies will be made continually aware of the situation and extra patrols and building checks will be made of the property.