Danforth: Watertown should not be in the lawn care business (Audio)

October 17, 2022
Mike Tanner

WATERTOWN, S.D.–The city of Watertown has an ordinance on the books that requires private property owners during the summer months to maintain their lot in terms of mowing and not letting weeds get out of control.

If they fail to do that after getting a warning, the city steps in and does the job themselves, and bills the property owner.

Monday night, the city council approved a special assessment on ten property owners who failed to get the job done themselves, which required mowing to be done by the city.

The special assessments range from a low of $110 to a high of $660.The amount assessed to the ten properties combined was just over $2,900.

Councilman Mike Danforth raised the question of whether the assessments, or fines, are high enough, particularly for repeat offenders, saying the city should not be in the business of providing lawn care to private property owners….

The council approved the special assessments for the ten property owners, but did not take any action on increasing the assessment amount for future violators.