ROWLAND — The Rowland Board of Commissioners on Tuesday continued its ongoing battle to get the owner of a condemned and demolished hotel to clean up his property.

The board voted unanimously to continue charging Fayetteville resident Thakur Sabdoh, the owner of the long-abandoned Family Inn motel off Interstate 95, $100 a day until he cleans up debris on his property that town officials contend is creating both a safety hazard and eyesore.

Oryan Lowry, the town’s administrator, told the board that he has sent Sabdoh numerous notices about the fines and has received no reply. He said that the town has been charging the $100 a day fine since the beginning of August.

The commissioners on Tuesday also authorized the town’s attorney, Rob Price, to work with Robeson County Attorney Patrick Pate to reach an intergovernmental agreement between the town and county that would move forward Rowland’s attempts to collect taxes and fees from the hotel owner.

“An intergovernmental agreement is needed because Robeson County actually collects our taxes,” Lowry said. “We (Rowland) do not have our own tax collector.”

The commissioners during their regular monthly meeting Tuesday also discussed the need for eventually codifying several town ordinances that have not been updated for years. These include the town’s Personnel Ordinance that Lowry said has not been updated since 1998.

According to Mayor Elizabeth Hunt, the Lumber River Council of Governments has said it will oversee the codification of the town’s ordinances for $7,750. The process would take at least 18 months, the mayor said, and could be paid for over two years.

The commissioners did not act on the proposal presented by the Council of Governments.

In other business, the commissioners:

— Granted a request from Apostle W.F. Carmichael that a church cemetery be established on property located at 103 E. Main St. Carmichael told The Robesonian that he is in the process of putting a small non-denominational church and cemetery on the property.

— Heard a brief report from Lowry concerning a proposal by CINTAS, a national supplier of work uniforms, to provide uniforms for town employees.

“That rate will cut what we are paying now by 38 percent,” he told the board.

No action was taken Tuesday.

By Bob Shiles

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Bob Shiles can be reached at 910-416-5165.