County awaits asbestos report on dilapidated mobile homes

The possibility of asbestos inside two dilapidated Monticello mobile homes has caused Jones County officials to pause their push to clean up the trailers and the ground they sit on.

Jones County Land Use Administrator Whitney Amos told the Jones County Supervisors last week that samples taken from the mobile homes in MontPark Mobile Home Park north of town will soon reveal if -- and how much -- asbestos is present in the trailers.

Asbestos is a cancer-causing carcinogen found in older building materials like insulation and wall boarding.

“I hope there’s no asbestos in there,” Amos said. “When I asked the asbestos guy how they will remove it, he said it’s too dangerous for them to go in (the trailers) and do it, so it might come to where we have a certified asbestos contractor on site.”

Supervisor John Schlarmann asked if the trailers can be moved off site given that they are mobile.

“I am no construction person, but with the condition of those trailers, I don’t know if you can move them. They might fall apart,” Amos said. “I was able to get in them (recently). They’re so full of garbage and rotting food. I only saw one mouse, but I heard a whole bunch. We just got to hope there’s no asbestos.”

The county owns the trailers after acquiring them via tax certificate. County officials are working to evict a man names Charles Fellers who they say has been living in the trailers without permission and bringing junk onto the property.

“I talked to Chuck (Nov. 17) and he knows what is going to happen,” Amos said. “His stuff will be gone, and the trailers will be gone. Once we have a timeline, I will let Chuck know. It will depend on the asbestos.”

Amos said Fellers has lived in the trailers for a “couple” years.

“He hasn’t paid rent or anything like that. I don’t think these trailers have had electricity or septic or water while he’s been there. He just kind of moved in.”

Under Iowa law, a person cannot obtain adverse possession of an abandoned property unless they have occupied it for five continuous years. If this hurdle is reached, the person then holds a “color of title” and can keep or sell the property.

Eviction proceedings against Fellers are proceeding, and Amos said she is hopeful Fellers will leave voluntarily.

The county recently agreed to pay Wade Picray $7,500 to demolish the trailers and clean up the lots by the end of the year.

“My plan was to serve a writ (to vacate) the day of demolition, that way he doesn’t come back,” Amos told the Express. “But I am wanting him to leave on his own. I am hopeful he will. I’m not sure where he will go, but he’s a resourceful man and he does have friends who live at the (mobile home) park … He has known (an eviction) was a possibility for a year now.”

Amos said all the costs associated with the trailers’ cleanup will be charged to the property owner.

“All the costs are going to be going with the (property owner’s) taxes. The certified mailings, all the costs,” Amos said.

In other business, the Supervisors:

• Approved a contract with Terry Vernon to acquire a portion of his land to help facilitate the construction of a new bridge on Landis Road east of Anamosa. The county will purchase just under a half acre of land from Vernon while also obtaining .69 acres via a temporary easement. The contract will cost $5,800.

• Jones County Engineer Derek Snead asked for the Supervisors’ approval -- which was granted -- to use the county’s bridge fund to cover costs associated with building the Landis Road Bridge. The majority of the project will be paid for using federal funds, but Snead said this will offer more flexibility in covering the portion of the project -- 20% -- that the county will pay. Snead described both accounts from which the project will be paid -- Farm-to-Market and Bridge -- as “fairly healthy.”