Five members of Trenton’s’ Building and Nuisance Board addressed 20 properties of concern during a one-hour meeting Monday evening at city hall. Six locations were identified for declaration of a nuisance and others will move forward in the city’s process of getting properties repairs, cleaned up, or removed.
The fire-damaged Lakeview Motel at 3307 East 10th Street advances to a public hearing next month. Building Inspector Donnie Vandevender reported the hazardous materials inspection is complete and a demolition permit has been obtained.
Vandevender said he was told Perkins and Sons have been selected for the cleanup. Yet to be determined, according to Vandevender, is whether the structure will be demolished down to the concrete or whether all concrete will be removed. He cautioned that a determination needs to be made on whether the foundation is capable of building upon. The building boards’ ultimate concern is that the Lakeview debris gets abated.
Upon learning that the owners live in Texas, the board voted to place 1109 East 24 Street on the agenda for a public hearing next month.
Three addresses were the subject of a public hearing last evening. One citizen, Jim Bush, attended the hearing regarding 416 West 13th Court. He asked that it be included in the city’s demolition list next year. He noted cleaning of the interior is planned in a couple weeks. This location and two others advance to findings of fact. They are 1323 Tindall and 1103 East 17th Street.
Because progress has been shown, two addresses get another 30 days as owners continue to work on abating issues. These locations are 817 East 19th Street and at 1116 East 23rd Street.
The board voted to advance seven addresses to having certificates of existence of a dangerous building due to an apparent lack of progress. These are 403 Jefferson, 513 West 15th Street, 607 West Crowder Road, 821 East 19th Street, 1205 East 10th Street; 1312 Shanklin; and 2408 Chicago.
Photographs of problems at six other addresses were reviewed by the board. For each one, the building board voted to declare a nuisance. These addresses are 302 East 7th Street owned by Susan and Gary Jacobs; 305 East 10th Street owned by Otis and Monica White; 400 Washington owned by Beth Sharp and James Own Jr, 701 East 6th Street owned by Daniel Harkins; 725 West 17th Street owned by Angela Summers as well as 910 Olive, owned by Tommy Graham.
Police Chief Tommy Wright reported 229 nuisance violations have been filed so far this year – compared to 152 at this time last year and 173 for all of 2016.
More than half of the 229 nuisance violations involve tall grass and weeds. 143 have been abated. 51 got citations, summons, or referred to the court and 35 are pending.
Eleven properties were demolished using funds from the past two years. Combined, they cost the city over $52,000.
The 2016 demolitions have property owners who ave, or are making payments to assist the city in paying for removal of structures. Once all payments come in, it’s expected the city expense will be $20,568.
But the 2017 demolition projects exceeded the council’s $20,000 annual allocation. That cost is $31,760 which is more than $11,000 over budget due in large part to removal of a fire-damaged house at 10-02 West 14th Street in Trenton. The city received no offers when it advertised the lot for sale. Officials noted back taxes are owed and there’s a tax lien against it.
City Clerk Cindy Simpson said the overage in expense will have to come out of the capital projects fund balance. None of the property owners contributed financially toward the 2017 demolition costs.
It will be May of next year, the beginning of the city’s fiscal year, when funds are again budgeted for demolition projects in Trenton.
