Cleanup dispute set for court

Published 9:58 am Friday, June 5, 2009

Cleanup of burned down properties on Main Street will be the topic of a scheduled June 23 court date in Mower County.

That is when the city is expected to meet with Maria Leon, owner of Mia Tierra restaurant and several nearby destroyed properties, who so far has not responded to calls from the city to clean up the site, which the city has called “hazardous.”

The city passed a resolution on May 4 to give Leon 30 days to respond. To date, she hasn’t, and the court appearance will allow both sides to air their arguments, director of community development Craig Hoium said.

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The city would like to contract out the cleanup work and assess it to Leon, Hoium added.

The buildings were destroyed in a Jan. 15 fire that required the help of firefighters from multiple cities.

In April, cleanup began on the site of Top Ten Nails, and that location has been completed. Owner Sam Nguyen previously told the Daily Herald that he was doing the work on his own without city assistance.

Some other local business owners were hopeful that Nguyen would spark further cleanup, but a mess still remains on Main Street.

There is also an active arson investigation at the site, Austin fire chief Dan Wilson said.

Because the investigation is open, Wilson could not discuss details of the case.

The listed number for Mia Tierra is no longer active, and no listing for Maria Leon in Austin could be found.

The June 23 court date is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. at the government center.