Abbeville city hall sends citizen $2,500 bill after city hires contractor to clean part of her yard

The city of Abbeville is getting tougher about enforcing ordinances regarding abandoned houses, overgrown yards, and junk-inoperable vehicles in yards.
Just ask long-time Abbeville resident Sandra Goodman, 71, about how tough the city is getting on cleaning up Abbeville.
Last month, she received a bill from the city that was $2,500.  
The bill was divided into two parts. The largest amount, $1,675, was for the contractor the city hired to clean her yard.
The other part, $837, is for the city’s administrator fee.
If she does not pay the $2,500 bill by May 10, the city will proceed to file a lien against her property.
“The resident is no different than any other citizen in Abbeville,” said Abbeville attorney Bart Broussard. “She did not comply with the ordinance, and if you do not comply, this is what happens.”
Broussard said the city’s ordinances align with state law and comply with state and city ordinance notification requirements.
The city of Abbeville mailed Goodman a bill for $2,512.50. Goodman said she has decided to hire a lawyer and file an injunction against the city. She also plans not to pay the bill because she cannot afford it. 
Goodman has lived at 1002 Thomas Street for over 40 years and recently received complaints from the city about her property.
She enjoys letting the vegetation grow in her yard to create shade and has small rose bushes and trees along her property line next to the drainage ditches.
According to city attorney Bart Broussard,  Bryan Fisher, the city’s new code enforcer officer, gave Goodman a notice in February. He sent her a letter on February 6, 2024, about the violations on her property. One of those violations was abandoned vehicles on her property. Goodman covered the abandoned vehicles, as  Fisher suggested.
The other violation was small trees along the side of a drainage ditch. According to Goodman, Fisher advised her to cut down the small trees, which she and a friend did on August 7, she said.
Broussard said Fisher had been in contact with Goodman since February 6 and warned her that the city would hire a contractor if she did not clean her yard. 
The city did precisely that. 
On April 8, she heard a chainsaw at work in her yard. She walked outside and saw a man removing and cutting tree branches on her property. She walked over and asked who they were. She said she was told they were contractors hired by the city to clean part of her property. 
“I did not know they were coming,” said Goodman. “They had no instructions. They told me they were there to clean up the yard and ditch. The city should have notified me they were coming onto my property.” 
She said the contractor was  “unprofessional” and had a 12-year-old helper. 
“The contractor told me the city told him to come to clean my yard and the ditch,” she said. “The contractor should not have been on my property. I never permitted him to come on my property. He just started cutting. I disapproved of the contractors coming onto my property. I went without notice.”
Goodman said the contractors should have only cleaned the ditch and not go onto her yard and cut branches.
Goodman said she has no plans to pay the bill.
“If I pay this bill, what is to say they do not return in six months and fine me $2,500 again?
“There are bigger problems to fix than fining someone $2,500 because they have small trees growing along their property line. They should be worrying about crime  instead of putting liens on houses lived in by 71-year-old ladies.”
Broussard said he understood her concerns about the high bill, but she did not comply with the ordinance.