BY DAN HILDEBRAN
General manager
STARKE— A private citizen has cleaned up a Pratt Street property that the City of Starke filed liens on due to code enforcement actions.
City Manager Drew Mullins said local developer Jeff Oody hired a contractor to remove overgrown vegetation at 525 West Pratt Street.
In November, Oody’s company, C.O.R. Development, acquired a nearby lot and mobile home at the corner of West Pratt and Orange Streets. The mobile home has since been demolished.
Code Enforcement Officer Glen Ward Jr. reported to a special magistrate that, as of the November 14 hearing, the 535 West Pratt Street parcel had yet to be cleaned.
Special Magistrate Laura Gapske ordered that the property owners, Gordon Brown and Betty Dilts, continue to be fined $250 a day. That daily fine could increase to $500 in January. Liens on the parcel now exceed $28,000 for the code enforcement case that began in January 2022.
