NATCHEZ — The City of Natchez has been granted authority to clean up the historic Arlington lot, spending up to $20,000 — a bill the property’s owner will have to pay.

Arlington owner Dr. Thomas Vaughan could also be facing jail time.

Municipal Court Judge Pro Tem Tony Heidelberg made the ruling Monday in environmental court, which is a division of municipal court, after Vaughan of Jackson did not appear for his scheduled trial.

Vaughan appeared for an arraignment in June for violating the city’s code regarding overgrown properties and was told to appear before the court again Monday for a trial, Heidelberg said.

Code enforcement officer Anita Smith testified at the trial and said the grass on the property had grown more than 5 feet in height and is an eyesore to the community.

“It’s going from bad to worse,” Smith said. “You can barely see the structure from the street anymore.

“It is just a menace.”

After hearing Smith’s testimony and asking her if any work had been done on the property since Vaughan’s previous appearance, Heidelberg found Vaughan guilty of failure to maintain property.

Heidelberg said he would instruct the city to contract the work of cleaning the lot to a third-party company or allow city workers to do the work.

The $20,000 allotment for labor costs is the maximum amount allowed for one year according to Mississippi statute 21-19-11, Heidelberg said.

“After such, the city will be allowed to submit that bill to the court,” Heidelberg said. “The court will likely assess a 50-percent penalty on top of that — a $10,000 penalty on top of the $20,000.”

The city can clean the lot up to six times in the one-year period, according to the statute.

Heidelberg also sentenced Vaughan to serve 10 days in in jail, which would be suspended upon paying $1,000 by Aug. 5.

“Should Mr. Vaughan fail to pay $1,000 and fail to appear on Aug. 5, I will entertain a motion for contempt of court and a warrant for arrest and incarceration,” Heidelberg said. “Given the testimony, the pictures and exhibits I see, (the lot) is overgrown and has been overgrown for some time, and the building is in poor condition and needs quite a bit of work.”

The house suffered severe fire damage, which destroyed the roof and the second floor in September 2002. A roof was installed on the house shortly after the fire, but no other work has been done to protect the house from weather or vandalism.

The house was named the second most endangered historic property in Mississippi by the Mississippi Heritage Trust in 2009. The Mississippi Heritage Trust has released a 10 most endangered places list since 1999.