Lawrence approves Cal Solutions contract quote for property violation remediation services

The City of Lawrence approved using Cal Solutions as a vendor for 2025 property-violation remediation services and heard staff explain how the nuisance-abatement process works and how the city recovers costs.

Renee Raffala, representing city administration, said, “Cal Solutions has been a vendor for the city of Lawrence for several years now. They help us with our, property violations, mowing, trash removal, those type of things.” Raffala walked the panel through the vendor process and enforcement timeline required under local ordinance.

According to Raffala’s explanation to the body, the process begins with a certified letter to the property owner that gives 15 days to remediate the violation. If the owner does not correct the issue, the city asks an approved vendor to service the property; vendors have five days from the order to complete the work and then submit an invoice. The city adds a $200 administrative fee to the invoiced amount. Raffala said the first violation each year carries a $75 fine; the second violation in the same calendar year doubles to $150, and the third doubles again to $300. She said fines continue to double for subsequent violations up to a maximum of $2,500 per violation.

Raffala told the body owners have 10 days to pay an invoice or arrange payment; if they do not, the city files a lien on the property and, if that lien goes unpaid for 30 days, the amount is certified to the property-tax roll. Raffala said the city files certifications twice a year, in spring and fall, and that last year the city recovered about $50,000 through nuisance-violation certification, with roughly 55% ultimately paid without tax-roll collection.

A commissioner moved approval of the quote from Cal Solutions and another seconded; the motion carried by voice vote. The transcript does not record a roll-call tally or identify the names of the commissioners who moved and seconded.

Why it matters: The vendor approval allows the city to continue contracting out abatement work that the city uses to address public-nuisance properties and to recover costs from property owners through fines and tax-roll certification. Raffala said the city’s approach prioritizes compliance over maximizing immediate charges; she noted the city will sometimes absorb trip charges when a vendor arrives after a homeowner has already remedied a violation.

Contract and fee details were reviewed for transparency before approval; the transcript did not include the contract dollar amount or specific ordinance citations by number.