This photo posted on social media shows live cockroaches on the exterior of a rental property in Moundsville. The city is addressing the situation and the properties are being treated for the bugs. (Photo Provided)

MOUNDSVILLE — Some residents expressed concern about certain rental properties being full of cockroaches and rodents during this week’s Moundsville City Council meeting.

Moundsville City Manager Rick Healy said he explained to the residents what steps the city has taken and is taking now to remedy the situation.

The rental properties people complained about are located on Cedar, Center and Cypress streets. Some residents took to social media and posted photos of thousands of cockroaches on the exterior of one of the buildings along with dead rats.

“The specific problem with the properties on Cedar, Cypress, and Center, have been in the system for some time. In fact, the property owner appeared in court and was directed to have the units exterminated, which he did,” Healy said.

“After the problems persisted, we ultimately chose to follow the nuisance property ordinance, which gave us the ability to abate the major issue and bill the owner for reimbursement.

“That timeline was resolved last week when we scheduled that work, after meeting with the owner. The company appeared on site yesterday, but unfortunately had to reevaluate the plan, and returned (Tuesday) to begin treatment of the worst units.

“This treatment will include interior and exterior sprays, an exterior barrier, and will have follow-up in 10 to 14 days. Continued treatment will be the responsibility of the property owner.”

He noted garbage on the site is another problem.

“A dumpster is provided for the residents, but this is often abused by other people who stop and drop their garbage off at this location,” he said. “We have had multiple conversations with the property owner over the last few years about this problem and continue to try to produce an amicable solution.”

Healy noted the city understands residents are frustrated.

“The city understands the gravity of this problem and commits to working with the property owner to first abate the rodent and pest issues and then determine the fate of the structures,” he said.

“In the end, this problem, and others like it, cannot be fixed by the city alone. It takes responsibility. It takes help from all single-family homeowners, business owners, landlords, and tenants.

“We must work together to bring back a sense of pride in your property. This pride, which seems to have declined over the years, must return if we want Moundsville to be the city that it should be.

“This is a great community to live in, but we all need to work together to make that happen. As always, the city stands by to assist within the legal guidelines.”

He also noted city building codes inspectors work hard to address all complaints across the city. Their work has to be balanced with the law and people’s due process rights, he added.

“The city of Moundsville has ordinances in place to protect the citizens and keep the general public safe. These ordinances, however, come with a built-in mechanism to protect the constitutional rights of everyone, and provide due process to property owners and citizens,” he said.

When there is a complaint filed for property maintenance issues, it starts a lengthy process by the building inspectors, Healy said. Those complaints include site visits for note taking and photographs, issuing notices of violation via certified mail, follow-up site visits, issuing possible citations or dismissals, and potentially attending court hearings, which often result in additional return visits 30 to 60 days later, as issued by the Municipal Court Judge.

He added that the city cannot use other people’s photos due to needing a date and time stamp.

He added the overall process can take months to complete.

“The aforementioned Building Inspection Department has multiple responsibilities,” he noted. “They include issuing building permits, verifying licensing for contractors, inspecting large projects and assuring compliance with Business & Occupation Taxes on those projects, maintaining the Rental Registration Program and the Land Reuse Agency, preparing for and appearing at Municipal Court, new business orientation meetings, general property inspections, the demolition program, inspections to issue Certificates of Occupancy, regular inspections on commercial properties with the Fire Department, all post-fire reports, and finally handling all property maintenance complaints.

In 2025, Healy said inspectors have fielded a total of 475 property maintenance complaints, of which 194 are still active. Additionally, they have issued 352 notices of violation, 51 citations, 442 first class 1109 letters, 72 court summonses, and attended 80 court hearings. The department, he added, does all of this work with two inspectors and one administrative tech.

“These three are very dedicated employees who take their work very seriously and personally. In fact, last week, they volunteered to work overtime to work on the reports from the inspections of twelve units at the Cypress, Cedar, and Center properties,” Healy said.

The reports include many pages of narrative and more than 2,000 photos that will be used to document the issues, Healy said. After the reports are complete, the Building Enforcement Agency will meet to discuss the conditions and determine the path forward.

“I want to praise them publicly for their commitment to their jobs and to the city,” Healy said. “The public outcry and social media posts have been difficult for them, because they understand the difficulty and time of the process.”

Healy said demolition is often the final step for many properties, but that is also a timely process. From 2019 to 2024, Healey said Moundsville has demolished 134 structures. To date in 2025, the city has completed 23 demolitions of dilapidated structures and is on track to complete over 30. Of the 23, 15 of those have been funded by grants that the city has received, with no cost to the taxpayers.

The city was under contract for four more demolitions in April, when the property owner filed an emergency injunction in Circuit Court, Healy said. That was upheld by the judge, and the city was required to have a structural engineer inspect those structures at city expense.

“We still have not been back to court to resolve this, six months later,” Healy said. “Meanwhile, these properties continue to decay and cause neighborhood blight. This is another example of how we are often handcuffed and cannot move forward.”

Regarding rental properties, Healy said City Council approved a Rental Registration Program.

There are approximately 1,134 properties eligible for rental in Moundsville and, of those 1,134, more than 500 are active.

“This program has taken longer to implement than expected and hoped, but we are currently inspecting the active rental units in the city, reaching an inspected number of over 100 currently,” Healy said.

Those inspections are being done by alphabetical order of the owner’s last name. Healy said the inside of a rental property cannot be inspected while occupied unless it is made by the current tenant.

“So, while you may be close to or know of a property that you believe is bad, we cannot proceed to enter the property. We are also often asked to have the Health Department involved,” he said. “While they can be a reliable source of information, they have no enforcement powers. While we partner with them for situations such as this, all they can really do is help document the issues and provide guidance.”