ELKINS — A local resident raised concerns about what he called an unsafe property to the Randolph County Commission.

Randolph County resident Phil Lance voiced his concerns in reference to an abandoned property in the Glenmore Acres Subdivision during the public comment period during the most recent commission meeting.

“It’s been an existing problem for quite some time, but now the house is abandoned, and no one lives there,” said Lance.

He said the property has begun to create health hazards for neighbors.

“The surrounding houses are now picking up roaches from the garbage out back,” he said, adding that some of the neighbors have spotted rats.

“Somebody put out a reclining chair for pickup for waste management, but they refused to pick it up because it had so many bed bugs in it,” he said.

“These are really deplorable conditions for the nice homes that we have in this area. The grass has never been mowed, and it’s still like that. There’s all kinds of trash in the back of it. There’s an outbuilding; I don’t know what’s in it, but I’m sure it’s trash.

“The biggest concern is the health hazard because now we have to fight with all the roaches and the other bugs, and it’s becoming quite costly for us,” Lance said.

He added that he believes the property is a fire hazard.

“There’s all kinds of wood and stuff around it. If anything gets caught on fire, it’s going to go fast. It’s a fire hazard plus a health hazard to the people that are around it,” he said.

Lance also stated that the homeowners association in that subdivision only covers road maintenance.

Also during the meeting, commissioners approved a contract with Jennifer Boyle, making her the field inspector of the enforcement committee formed with the passage of the county’s Unsafe Buildings and Lands Ordinance in August.

Commission President Mark Scott explained that the enforcement committee is designed to deem whether properties are unsafe, bring them before the commission and make a recommendation; the commission will then enter an order to which the defendant will have 10 days to respond.

“In order to be able to do that, we need a field inspector that will go out, take a look at the property, take pictures, go back to the enforcement committee and give them a presentation as to what the issues are and how they recommend that the enforcement committee remediates,” Scott said.

Scott said Boyle has already been doing work related to the position for several years.

“We have met with her and had conversations. She came to the last enforcement committee meeting and has already provided some valuable input,” he noted.

Scott then stated that the property discussed in public comment is already on a list of complaints that “hopefully soon” the field inspector will be examining.

Also during the meeting:

• Cindy Hart, executive director of the Randolph County Office of Emergency Management, announced that county residents can now receive weather alerts, emergency broadcasts and public safety alerts via text through Nixle.

“With the bad weather coming up, I would encourage everybody, if you don’t have the Nixle application, that you get that,” she said.

To receive these alerts, text 26241 to 888777.