By DAVE SCHULTZ
A house on Lancaster Street will be demolished by the city, with the cost of the demolition placed as a lien on the property.
The lowest of two bids submitted for the work was submitted by Frauhiger Excavating of Bluffton, at $11,900, and the board accepted that. The other bid was submitted by Shaw Ag and Earthwork LLC, also of Bluffton, at $13,400.
The city’s Board of Public Works and Safety had voted May 24 to have the structure demolished after multiple notices to the owner, Danny Howell. The house was under a repair or demolish order, and no one appeared before the board in May or on Tuesday to discuss the building’s status.
Another Lancaster Street house, at the corner of Lancaster and Morgan streets, has been cited repeatedly because of excessive junk around the structure. The man who lives in the house told the board in May that he hoped to have the area around the house cleaned up within 30 days, but Building Commissioner Richard Triplett told the board Tuesday afternoon that there has been no change in the property’s status.
The legalities of the matter will be handled by a Huntington attorney, Adrian L. Haverstadt III. The owner of the house at 427 Lancaster, Jayne E. Schoeff, has been a client of City Attorney Tony Crowell, necessitating a special counsel in the matter.
Mayor John Whicker said he would contact Haverstadt.
The board — Whicker, Scott Mentzer, and Roger Thornton — also decided to clean up a pile of junk in front of 1021 S. Oak St., which is owned by LSS Properties LLC, and bill the owner of the property for the cost of the work. The same thing was done for junk behind the building at 117 E. Market St., owned by Shane Quillen. Two vehicles and a collection of trash is behind the building.
Police Chief Kyle Randall wants court orders before going onto private property, even if the Board of Works wants junk removed from the property. Whicker said he would contact Crowell about the legal process.
In other business:
• An order declaring a dog owned by a city resident as a nuisance animal was upheld by board. The dog, a terrier/lab mix, attacked a woman at the Bluffton dog park. After viewing photos of the injuries suffered by the woman, the board placed the restriction on the dog, which is owned by Bonnie Spallinger
• A $1-an-hour merit raise was approved for Street Department employee Steve Gase. The request was made by Street Commission Tim Simpson. The raise brings Gase’s salary to $21.42 an hour.
• Clerk-Treasurer Tami Runyon said it was possible that the city could put online bill payment in place sometime in July.
daves@news-banner.com
