by Logan Gruber
operations@thenewsleaders.com
At the April 27 Sauk Rapids City Council meeting, a resident challenged the council to get to work on a yard ordinance.
Sylvester Stellmach thought the council should start doing something about people who do not take care of their lawns.
“Last year, my neighbor didn’t mow his lawn until August,” Stellmach said during the meeting. “His yard is greener than mine because of the weeds!”
Stellmach said when the neighbor did finally cut the grass, he simply let the trimmings blow into the street, which would then blow in front of Stellmach’s home.
Todd Schultz, the community development director, said the city was working on drawing up an ordinance regarding lawn maintenance.
Sauk Rapids Police Chief Perry Beise also pointed out many people report incidents similar to this one to the police. The police then try to make the resident compliant with existing ordinances, and if they won’t comply, the police will issue a citation.
“Well, last week two [police officers] stopped on top of the debris, so you can’t tell me they didn’t see it,” Stellmach said.
Sylvester Stellmach addressed the council regarding a city lawn-maintenance ordinance and explained his own personal experience with the issue.
