FAIRBURY, Neb. - Two weeks after first hearing complaints about some city properties that some have criticized as unmaintained, the Fairbury city council took its first steps towards potential official action regarding those concerns last night, despite some lineup changes. 

Two weeks after complaints about so-called unkempt properties across the city were unofficially filed, on Tuesday night the Fairbury city council conducted a public hearing for the council and community to discuss those concerns.  

First-term council member Charley Endorf was in line to lead the discussion as a follow-up to his initial grievance at the previous council meeting, but he was unavailable for this session after he was hospitalized early Tuesday morning. 

Mayor Kelly Davis relayed a status update from Endorf’s son during Tuesday’s meeting, which said in part that although the elder Endorf had suffered multiple small strokes, “there is a lot of good brain activity, so that is a good sign. The neurologist is optimistic that things will be fair to good in time. We are thankful for the thoughts, prayers and well wishes.” 

In Endorf’s stead, the council opened the floor for the public to lead the discussion. Aldene Goeking was the first to come forward, saying she fields multiple complaints about the property next to hers on 5th Street. 

"I don’t think a day goes by that somebody doesn’t ask me, ‘What’s happening to that house next to you?’” she began. “I have put up with this for several years. I have not seen anybody there working on that property for weeks, and I just wonder how long it takes to declare a nuisance, or whatever can be done about it.” 

But Fairbury city code enforcement officer Dan Lufkin, whose department in charge of assessing those nuisance violations, said serious progress has already been made, and will continue to be made, on that unit, which is located on the corner of 5th and I Streets, was left vacant for more than two decades and previously condemned because the roof had begun to collapse. 

“I agree that progress has stopped, but I’m in constant contact with this gentleman, and he’s basically waiting for it to warm up and he’s going to get back at it. He can’t put new varnish and stuff on the floors when it’s cold,” Lufkin said. “He had all his cabinets and the stove and stuff out on the porch, that’s why you saw the tarps on it, but those heavy winds we had just tore those to shreds. I did contact him last Friday about it, he said he’s going to get over there and clean it all up."  

Davis asked if the current owner has shown commitment to progress on the property, both financially and otherwise, and Lufkin pointed out the steps already taken to establish the house’s plumbing and electrical systems. 

“He’s working on it, it’s just not a cheap or a quick fix, it is a large house,” Lufkin concluded. “He’s put stucco on the walls, he’s covered up a lot of the stuff, put siding on quite a bit of it...it’s had a huge change: it’s been released off the condemnation list because he’s fixed all of those issues.” 

Meanwhile, just a few blocks away, Michael Root is the owner of one of the properties on 3rd Street, across from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, that has long been one of the more scrutinized stretches of land, especially in Endorf’s initial address at the last council meeting. The primary concern is with the dozen-plus vehicles that are spread throughout the yard, but Root claims he’s followed all the proper procedures.  

"The vehicles that everyone complains about are licensed and registered, and insured, so I don’t see what the problem is with them if they’re all operable,” Root began. “I carry 17 cars on my insurance policy. I hear everybody complain, and I’m just like: they’re tagged, and registered, and insured, and if anybody wants to see it I will show you my insurance policy.” 

The city’s concern appears to be less with the vehicles’ registration status and more with their presence on the property itself. 

“We’re trying to make things better and cleaner, and just upkept,” councilmember Dusty Schmidt said. “It’s tough when there’s a bunch of cars right up on each other – it's hard to keep things upkept.” 

For his part, Root said he wants to build a tin fence to construct a mini lot to contain the vehicles on the property. He said was approved for a wood fence because a tin fence would require some extra steps and procedures. Development director Laura Bedlan clarified that any used material – including both tin and wood – must be approved through a conditional use permit and then receive permission from the Planning and Zoning Committee or the City Council itself. 

Councilmember Phil Rogge asked Root why he feels he needs to have 17 vehicles on his property – to which Root replied that the actual number of cars and trucks he owns is far greater.  

“I sell them once in a while, maybe one or two a year. But I usually drive them,” Root concluded. “I’ve had it where I’ve had three or four vehicles go down in a week, brakes or something like that. I like to have a backup – I like vehicles, I’m sorry.” 

“That’s obvious,” Davis said with a wry laugh. 

The council did not take any specific, formal action Tuesday aside from conducting the public hearing session. Further discussion, or, eventually, a formal motion of some kind, could be added to the council’s agenda in future meetings.