META — Another severe storm could bring down a deteriorating house and create a major hazard for motorists, prompting renewed concern from Meta aldermen as they continue pursuing nuisance-property cases.

During the July 9 meeting, City Attorney James Klahr of Lauber Municipal Law updated the board on several ongoing cases, including one involving the Wade property.

“We’re going to get another storm like we had over Fourth of July weekend; that house is going to come down, and it’s going to go over the road, and it’s going to cause a huge issue,” said Alderman Otto Wankum, adding the back porch has already collapsed, leaving him unsure what is still supporting the remainder of the structure. “I have no idea what’s holding the house up.”

Klahr said the city continues pursuing legal action involving the Wade property while also working through the Masking property case. He told aldermen a default judgment hearing had been postponed two weeks to allow additional time for legal filings.

The attorney also said he is researching the proper procedure for placing liens on nuisance properties to help the city recover cleanup costs when work must be performed at public expense.

In his monthly maintenance report, Wankum urged the board to consider adopting a policy requiring property owners or contractors who cut trees to remove logs, limbs and other debris left along city rights-of-way.

“I don’t care about people cleaning up the property,” he said. “That’s fine and dandy, but they’ve got to clean it up.”

Wankum said debris left near Fifth Street had created a difficult and potentially unsafe area for pedestrians while adding to the city’s maintenance responsibilities.

“We need to stop that from happening again because it’s just one more thing to get cleaned up,” he said.

Elsewhere in his report, Wankum said the city’s large mower broke down near the ballpark but was temporarily repaired well enough to return it to City Hall. He estimated replacement parts would cost approximately $400.

The city’s Gravely mower remains available as a backup.

“I use it at least once a week now,” Wankum said. “It’s running pretty good — just slow — but it runs.”

Wankum said the maintenance crew continues making progress on routine work. With three employees, he estimated the crew can mow the ballpark, streets and other city property in about four hours under normal conditions.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good little program going as far as efficiency goes,” he said.

Crews also recently cleaned a drainage area on the south side of a city building. Wankum said workers had to navigate the rocky terrain carefully to avoid falls and twisted ankles.