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BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />COUNTY OF KITTITAS <br />STATE OF WASHINGTON <br />RESOLUTION NO.: 2024- -1 ! <br />A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE ABATEMENT IN SUPERIOR COURT AND TO <br />APPROPRIATE FUNDS AND SET A TIMETABLE FOR THE LAUDERDALE <br />JUNCTION ABATEMENT AGAINST DONALD AND EDITH DRAKE AND ALL <br />OTHER PERSONS OR PARTIES UNKNOWN CLAIMING ANY RIGHT, TITLE, <br />ESTATE, LIEN, OR INTEREST IN THE REAL ESTATE DESCRIBED HEREIN. <br />WHEREAS, KCC 18.05.030 provides for the Board of County Commissioners to approve <br />commencement of abatement actions in Superior Court, to appropriate funds <br />for such abatements, and to set timetables for such abatements; and <br />WHEREAS, the property located at 17490 Highway 97 in Cle Elum, owned by Donald J. <br />& Edith J. Drake, who are both deceased, contains: multiple Recreational <br />Vehicles being used as residences; instances of unlawful disposal/dumping of <br />septic tank waste or gray water onto the ground; the accumulation of trash, <br />garbage, and litter; unpermitted structures; occupancy of unpermitted <br />structures without a Certificate of Occupancy; operation of a Recreational <br />Vehicle Park without a Conditional Use Permit; building set -back violations, <br />which are within the floodway/floodplain; unpermitted structures and <br />development within a shoreline area; and creation of a development without a <br />permit and failure to obtain a shoreline permit, and reports (to the Washington <br />State Department of Ecology) of defecation/septic waste being placed into <br />and people bathing in the Swauk Creek; and <br />WHEREAS, Community Development Services' (CDS) Code Enforcement Officer sent a <br />Notice of Order to Correct Violation (NOCV) to Burgundy Lenz in Tifton, <br />Georgia, via certified and regular mail on February 21, 2024 and April 16, <br />2024 (as she was the alleged heir). The Code Enforcement Officer then sent a <br />Notice of Violation and Abatement (NOVA) on September 3, 2024, to the <br />following parties: Attorney Ken Rainbolt, Burgundy Lenz, Helen Copeland, <br />Darron Drake, and Scarlett Drake (aka Lenz) via certified and regular mail to <br />their last known addresses. The NOVA was physically posted on the subject <br />property on the same date. There has been no response to the mailed or posted <br />NOVA, or the NOCV. The before mentioned individuals are the only known <br />living heirs. The Prosecutor's Office has determined that there is no lawful <br />owner of this property as it was not mentioned or transferred in Edith Drake's <br />probate, and they do not believe Donald Drake's Estate was ever probated; <br />and <br />WHEREAS, CDS' Code Enforcement Officer has been in contact with some heirs of the <br />Decedents, and they are aware of the probate/property ownership issues. The <br />heirs are responsible for sorting out the ownership issues that surround the <br />property, not the County; and <br />