Nuisances, trailers continue to be an issue in city limits

    At the Feb. 22 council meeting, officials heard a report that seven properties in Imperial, which had been designated nuisances, had been abated.
    City crews and two representatives of the West Central Nebraska Development District cleared the nuisances in mid-February.
    Items removed included trash and other piled debris that violated city nuisance codes.
    That action led the council last week to rescind the ordinances that had originally declared each of those properties a nuisance.
    Once a property is declared a nuisance, owners have the opportunity to clear it themselves, but if it is not done by stated deadlines, city crews will do it if it gets to the abatement stage, or will have it hired done with costs to be borne by the owner.
    Property owners also have an opportunity to appear before the council to discuss the nuisance declaration.
    In a related matter, six trailers are in the process of being removed by Capital Mobile Court employees, Jo Leyland, City Clerk/Administrator, told council members last week.
    The six trailers had previously been declared nuisances by council action. Leyland believes they were in such poor condition, they would “have to go.”
    While the council had taken the formal action on nuisance declaration, Leyland said the trailer court owner had not picked up the certified letters on each property. To have them abated requires additional action by the city, such as posting signs at the property.
    Leyland said she was told the trailers would be removed by March 1 by the employees at the court. For city workers or WCNDD staff to remove a trailer, it’s required that the trailer’s title be acquired first, she said.
    Council member Doug Gaswick said many of the trailers in question are in his immediate neighborhood.
    Council member Chad Yaw put it bluntly.
    “We need to get control of the trailers in town,” he said.
    Leyland said when a trailer is moved into the city limits, city code requires the owner to acquire a building permit so it can be determined if it meets city requirements.
    That’s not always done, she said.
    City office staff also tries to make sure the building permit has been acquired when the owner or renter asks to be connected to city utilities.
Leibhart suit sends city
officials into closed session
    After an exchange of letters between attorneys for several months, Dan and Stacy Leibhart officially filed suit against the city and its insurance carriers.
    The suit was filed Feb. 7, exactly a year after their son Brock was injured in a one-vehicle accident.
    The Leibharts cite in their court documents that the plan failed to pay for Brock’s treatment, claim there was no written explanation for the denial and they have not received documents related to an “adverse benefit determination.”
    Dan Leibhart remains a city employee and was a participant in the city’s health plan at the time of their dependent son’s accident.
    The Leibharts claim the city’s breach of contract has caused damages to them “at or in excess of $964,000.”
    They also seek attorney’s fees and costs.
    In their filing, the Leibharts  noted that their son’s blood drawn during the course of his initial treatment for his injuries “indicated the presence of alcohol in his blood at that time,” but added there were no court or judicial proceedings filed arising from the Feb. 7, 2021 accident.
    A story in the Feb. 10, 2021 Imperial Republican reported that County Sheriff Kevin Mueller said a snow plow operator came across Leibhart’s vehicle in the ditch and called 911 around 5:40 a.m. the morning of the accident.
    Mueller said he had little information initially because the accident was not reported to his office when it happened south of Enders Dam.
    “We responded to the call when the EMS and fire (department) were dispatched to it, but found out the accident happened about four hours before we were notified by the state roads department,” Mueller said in the 2021 story.
    According to the sheriff’s accident report, Leibhart, 16 years old at the time, was transported from the accident scene by a private party.
    The matter sent the four council members, Mayor Dwight Coleman, City Attorney Josh Wendell and Leyland into a closed session for about half an hour at the end of the Feb. 22 meeting.