An effort to strengthen the city’s weed abatement ordinance took another step further Tuesday.

The council approved the first read of an amended weed ordinance that will allow city officials to cut the grass on a cited property repeatedly — or as needed — through the growing season until the property owner steps in.

The amended ordinance, which is modeled after one in Anniston, would kick in only after city officials had gone through each of the steps of notifying the property owner, giving the owners an opportunity to resolve the issue before city work crews step in.

“Right now it is a big problem,” Selma code enforcement officer Daryl Moore said in an interview earlier this month.

“This change is a good thing, giving us a chance to avoid some delays and clear up a piece of property sooner.”

During Tuesday’s meeting, as an example, the council was presented a report showing more than 60 properties within the city limits were now entering phase one of the abatement process.

This phase is the part where property has been identified as being out of code and certified letters will be sent to owners, asking they address the problem.

Currently, when a property has grass or weeds exceeding 12-inches and has not been cut, the property could be declared a nuisance by the code enforcement office. The case is then processed through city departments, including the city council, before city crews are ordered to cut and clean the property.

The process right now takes in excess of three weeks.

Once the property is addressed by the city, an invoice is sent to the property owner at a rate of 2 percent of the property’s size; meaning if a lot is 24,000 square feet, the property owner will be sent an invoice for $480.

If the invoice is not paid, the city has the authority to place a “weed lien” on the property until the balance is cleared up.

But Moore said some property has to be repeatedly cited and the entire process has to be restarted each time the property is declared a nuisance.

With the proposed change, after a property has already been declared a nuisance and advances through the process to being cleared by city crews and charged, the property can again be cleared when needed without notification being given.

Before the amended ordinance can go into effect, the council must hear a second reading of the ordinance at their Sept. 13 meeting and then vote to approve it.

According to council president Cecil Williamson, he expects the council to approve the measure quickly after the second reading.