The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors originally approved the county to clean a property on Highway 30 during their January 22nd meeting, but have now approved to remove it altogether.

County Building Inspector Joel Hollowell recommended, and the board approved, removal of the property after it was found to be unlivable.

The board is allowing 30 days for the owner of the property to retrieve any valuable belongings before the home on the property is removed in its entirety.

Hollowell reported to the board the county had removed three to four load of scrap metal from the premises, but also removed five loads of debris from the property. These loads included rotting wood, broken lawn mowers, anti-freeze and rats nests.

The county then inspected the home, and found holes in the ceiling and rotting wood on the floors. Some of the floors had reportedly rotted away and disappeared entirely.

The board then moved to give the resident 30 days to clean the premises and remove the structure. It was approved unanimously.

The property was first presented to the Supervisors during a November 2018 meeting where representatives from the county approached the property owner asking if they would clean it in August 2018.

The supervisors gave the resident 30 days to clean the property. The board was the owner made an initial effort to clean the property, as the resident removed an inoperable car and debris.

However, since that first effort, the residents stopped when they reported their vehicle broken down.

The board moved and approved that first cleaning, citing the property was a health and public safety risk.