Judge continues trailer park health violations case

Justice Court Judge Jay Sheffield agreed to extend the status hearing on a case concerning alleged widespread environmental health violations at a local trailer park.

During a Nov. 5 status update, Sheffield granted a slightly more than a month continuance of the hearing in hopes that Bob Payne, 81, the owner of a trailer court at 474 Park Street in Libby, would be able to bring the park into health code compliance without any additional legal action.

Following a series of health department inspections that began in November 2019, authorities charged Payne for violating a litter ordinance, a community decay prohibition and wastewater regulations. Officials who toured the park reported trailers with missing windows, debris strewn across the lot and an improperly connected septic system that seemed to be leaking raw sewage.

After Payne failed to correct the violations, county attorneys opened the case against him.

However, residents of 474 Park Street and 106 Three Corner Road, Payne’s second trailer court, allege the county’s case failed to cover all of their landowner’s misconduct. Some tenants reported Payne put them in trailers without power or plumbing. Many claimed to have suffered through winters in uninsulated and unheated mobile homes.

Payne has reportedly refused to perform maintenance on the homes he owns, leading residents to spend thousands of dollars on repairs. Two renters have alleged their homes caught on fire due to faulty wiring or improperly installed appliances.

Sheffield scheduled Payne’s next status update for December 17.