Illinois Valley News

Abandoned satellite dishes at a Caves Hwy. location are a nuisance issue, says Illinois Valley Fire District Chief Harry Rich. (I.V. News file photo)

Harry Rich is tired of seeing the various satellite dishes standing at 310 Caves Hwy. in Cave Junction, apparently abandoned by a defunct cable TV provider.

He“s not alone in those feelings, as more than 30 residents have signed a petition demanding that the equipment at the corner of Caves Hwy. and N. Junction Avenue be removed.

Rich, who works as chief of Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD), has even gone so far as to request that the item be brought before the Cave Junction City Council during its Monday night, March 8 meeting. However, city officials contend that they already have done all they can to eliminate the nuisance.

In a letter dated Feb. 22 and addressed to the council, Rich stated his case for immediate removal of the satellite equipment.

“These large above-ground satellite appliances have caused an eyesore for years, but are now a detriment to the safety and welfare of the community and our children,“ Rich wrote. “Youngsters have found a haven for playing on and around these large objects. School age kids are crawling on them, hanging and swinging from the steel arms.“

Volunteers with IVFD have agreed to disassemble the satellite dishes and move them to a storage location of the city“s choosing, Rich wrote, “at no cost to the city or taxpayers.“

“The fire district also has offered to dispose of the disassembled parts as a community service,“ Rich wrote.

He said that the city has not exhibited due diligence in following up on the issue.

“The community is tired of waiting,“ Rich said.

But Mayor Don Moore said that the city has taken every legal step at its disposal to resolve the problem.

The Caves Hwy. property was one of several that the council declared a nuisance last November. All of those properties were referred to City Attorney Patrick Kelly for further action.

“It“s not that we haven“t done anything,“ Moore said. “We have. It just moves at a slow pace.“

Moore said that the parcel of land in question is private property, and city officials cannot trespass on it without a court order.

Further complicating matters is the fact that it remains unclear who exactly owns the property.

A series of bankruptcies among various cable television service providers made it difficult for the city to enforce a franchise agreement that would have brought more money into the city“s coffers. Representatives from Charter Communications removed the last of the cable television infrastructure in Cave Junction last March, as that company had been subsidizing the cost of placing wires on telephone poles.

That was despite the fact that Charter had long since stopped providing cable TV service to Cave Junction.

On Sept. 4, 2009, City Recorder Jim Polk sent a letter to Littleton, Colo.-based Rapid Communication requesting cleanup of the property. That letter requested that abatement action be taken within 10 days, at which point the matter would be forwarded to the city council for a nuisance determination. The issue was referred to Kelly in December.

Polk said that certified mail addressed to the registered owners of the property has been returned to the city.

Moore said that the city has a lien against the property of around $500 per day that the nuisance continues. According to Polk, the city may seek a judgment of around $55,000 to try and resolve the issue once and for all.

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