Mount Healthy council adopts emergency ordinances on high grass and vacant properties; dumpster language tabled

Mount Healthy city council voted unanimously on Sept. 17 to adopt two emergency ordinances addressing property maintenance and registration fees for vacant properties, and agreed to revise separate dumpster‑permit language after public comment.

Council suspended the two‑reading rule and passed Ordinance 24‑2050, which assesses the city’s cost for removal of high grass and weeds and declares an emergency to shorten procedural timing. The suspension and adoption were approved on a roll‑call vote, recorded in the meeting as unanimous.

Council then suspended the two‑reading rule and passed Ordinance 24‑2051 establishing registration fees and assessment authority for vacant or foreclosed properties; staff said this builds on earlier legislation that broadened the city’s ability to track vacant buildings and recover remediation costs.

During discussion, resident Jim Lowenburg urged the council to broaden a different proposed ordinance (drafted as 24‑2049) so that temporary dumpsters placed on the street — not only on residential property — would be addressed. Council members and staff agreed the current draft didn’t cover street placements and tabled Ordinance 24‑2049 for revision and clarification.

Vote at a glance: Ordinance 24‑2050 (assess removal costs for high grass/weeds; emergency) — adopted, vote recorded as 6‑0. Ordinance 24‑2051 (vacant/foreclosed property registration fees; emergency) — adopted, vote recorded as 6‑0. Ordinance 24‑2049 (temporary dumpster language) — tabled for rewording to cover street placements and cross‑reference existing code.

What’s next: Staff will prepare revised dumpster language that explicitly addresses dumpsters placed in the public right‑of‑way and will return the draft to council. The new ordinances take effect under the emergency clauses noted in the texts.