Environmental health office opened 516 cases last year

March 22--In a report presented by Tehama County Code Enforcement Officer Keith Curl to the county board of supervisors Tuesday, he said during 2017 the Environmental Health office opened 516 cases in regards to building permit violations, dormant wells and visual blight abatements.

Of those cases, Curl said 199 were elevated to a notice of violation with administrative penalties.

"Meaning we could not attain compliance through the normal 10-day letter and going out and working with the individuals," he added "Those cases required us go the next step."

Curl said, of the opened cases, violations in 258 cases were corrected through the issuance of 10-day notices and developing a plan of compliance with the property owners.

There are 32 cases carried forward into 2018, Curl explained.

"We are still working on those cases and they are each in various stage of compliance," he added. "We will not close those cases until we have complete compliance."

The number of visual blight abatements for 2017 was seven, Curl reported.

"We accomplished these abatements with assistance from the sheriff's department AB109 program and Greenwaste," he said. "Greenwaste provided the needed dumpster and AB109 work crews provided the man power."

In addition, environmental code enforcement facilitated a neighborhood clean-up at Ponderosa Sky Ranch last year during which 100 cubic yards of trash was removed.

The department confiscated 280 butane canisters from three different illegal honey oil labs abated in the county during 2017, according to the report.

There were 327 vehicles removed by code enforcement, some by the request of property owner or removed from roadways where the vehicles had been abandoned.

"Part of this process requires myself and Officer Weston to physically inspect and photograph each vehicle," Curl said.

Of the 516 cases handled by Curl's office, he said 276 were from called in citizen complaints.

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