City of Decorah agrees to drop charges against Kay Strand

701 Maple Avenue

City of Decorah officials have inspected the property of Kay Strand at 701 Maple Street and have declared it is no longer in violation of the city's property maintenance ordinance.

As a result, City Attorney Rick Zahasky has filed a motion to dismiss the city's lawsuit against Strand.  Magistrate Sherry Nichols has accepted the motion, with Strand agreeing to pay court costs in the matter.

The agreement ends a nine-month legal battle over Strand's property.  The Decorah City Council last October set a deadline for Strand to clean up her property or be taken to court.  When Strand missed that deadline, the city took her to court.

However, the City reached an out-of-court agreement with Strand the end of April which provided that she would complete all the siding and roofing repairs to the garage on the property by May 22nd and would cmplete the painting of the house and the reseeding of the lawn  by June 26th and to connect the house to the city's sewer system before anyone moved into the house.  City officials now say she "is in compliance with the Deferred Prosecution Agreement," so they have asked for charges to be dismissed.