Washington to demolish 13 condemned properties
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
The porch has collapsed at this home at 530 E. Maiden St., Washington, which appears on the city’s demolition list.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
This condemed home at 125-127 Church St., Washington, can barely be seen because of overgrown weeds.
Residents complained last week to Washington council that the grass is too high at some condemned properties on the city’s demolition list.
The city has 13 properties listed for demolition, seven of which were part of a public hearing last week. All of the structures are uninhabitable and many are considered unsafe to remain standing.
“Yard maintenance is not really a priority when it comes to these unsafe structures,” said code enforcement officer Ron McIntyre.
He said the property owners are responsible for the lawn care, and the city has sent notifications to those owners.
Washington County Redevelopment Authority is expected to advertise for bid this weekend on all 13 properties as one demolition project. Along with demolishing the buildings, the project will include “clearing and grading” the properties from “parcel line to parcel line,” according to Rob Phillips, the redevelopment authority’s assistant community development director.
“It’s going to look like a brand new lot when we’re done,” he said.
He said the contractor will put down new topsoil and plant grass, but the county won’t be responsible for maintaining the properties once the project is completed. He’s expecting it to cost about $75,000 and to be paid for through Local Share Account money. Washington Mayor Scott Putnam said the city will put a lien on those properties for the cost of the demolition.
“The owner who owns it today will still own it after the fact,” Phillips said. “Unfortunately, if they didn’t take care of the house that was on that property, they most likely won’t take care of the grass once the house is gone.”
McIntyre said the city has not hired a contractor to do the yard work and mowing at these properties, but officials may look into it.
“The city just doesn’t have an endless amount of revenue to clean up all of these properties,” he said. “We do the best we can with the funds we have.”
Arc Human Services used to provide landscaping services to the city, but the nonprofit organization did not renew its contract.
Audra Burd, director of community-based services for Arc, said the organization was “taking small groups and a job coach to do landscaping” and other clean up at those vacant properties, along with janitorial cleaning at City Hall and the police station.
“We didn’t have enough folks in the program to keep it going,” Burd said.
She also said the organization’s goal is for its developmentally delayed clients to become competitively employed at companies and organizations, rather than rely on Arc for employment.
“We do have a meeting with the mayor later this month to see what kind of opportunities are out there to work together to meet the needs of our folks as well as the needs of the city,” Burd said.
The 13 properties to be demolished are:
- 633 N. Franklin St.
- 217 Oak St.
- 125-127 Church St.
- 436 Addison St.
- 284 and 333 Locust Ave.
- 530 E. Maiden St.
- 34 E. Prospect Ave.
- 370 and 380 Houston St.
- 610 and 770
- 1
- /
- 2
- Ewing St.
- 441 E. Hallam Ave.