The Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, City Council is keeping the pressure on the owners of a scrap metal business that has spread beyond its boundaries.
When the council last discussed the issue on March 10, the council voted to move ahead with steps to take Feinberg Metals Recycling Corp. of Fort Madison to court to force them to clean up the materials that have spread to two adjoining pieces of property and property owned by the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad.
On March 24th, City Attorney Pat Brau said he has since been in contact with the company, and the company has agreed to clean up the materials from the adjoining properties and bring their own property up to city code, which would include the construction of a fence high enough to obscure the salvage yard's activities, within 30 days.
Brau said he was scheduled to meet with officials from the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe railroad on March 31, and that the railroad already had begun taking steps to initiate legal action against Feinberg. Brau said the railroad also is considering putting a fence around its property to keep the junkyard materials off.
Council member Steve Brimhall asked Brau what steps the city needed to take to get a court order to force Feinberg to clean up the mess and bring the property up to city code. Brau said notices of the violations were sent out in October, but the property has since changed owners. Brau said he would send out new notices by the end of the month, giving Feinberg 30 days to comply. If the property is not brought up to code by then, the city can seek a court order forcing Feinberg to comply and charging the company a fine for every day the property is in violation of city code.
"Sometimes it gets worse before it gets better," Brimhall said. "But it will get better." Mt. Pleasant (Iowa) News