Houses ordered demolished

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Local News

February 26, 2019 - 10:40 AM

Five houses will soon be demolished in Iola, while Iola City Council members said they’d allow a sixth to be repaired.

A series of public hearings accompanied Monday’s Council meeting, in which dilapidated homes at 330 S. Kentucky St., 530 S. Fourth St., 623 N. Cottonwood St., 602 South St. and 701 South St. were ordered razed. If the owners do not have the structures down within 120 days, the city will take bids for contractors to do the work.

Property owners Tim Berry, 602 South St., and Sue Snavely, 701 South St., both appealed for extensions to get their homes up to snuff.

Berry still lives in his home, he noted, and recently lost his job.

He said he’d be willing to “cash in” his other assets in order to pay for repairs, although Council members wondered if even that would be enough to cover the costs to replace the roof, siding and a new porch, among other things.

A motion by Councilman Ron Ballard to grant Berry a 120-day extension failed, 4-3. A follow-up motion to condemn the property passed by the same margin. Ballard was joined by Gene Myrick and Danny Mathew in seeking the appeal, rather than condemnation. Voting for the demolition order were Nancy Ford, Kim Peterson, Mark Peters and Chase Martin.

Snavely’s structure, a trailer house, is in need of a new roof, and likely a new back wall, at least, Code Enforcement Officer Gregg Hutton said, which quickly will rise above the home’s appraised value of about $4,000.

Snavely said she had been in touch with contractors, and hoped to pay those costs over several months.

Her plea did not pass the Council’s muster, who voted, 6-1, to have the home demolished, Mathew opposed. Councilman Aaron Franklin was absent.

 

THE SIXTH property, at 1008 East St., can still be saved, owner Rebecca Sanders said. 

She plans to sell the property to a contractor, who will in short order replace the roof and seal off a crumbling back porch in order to further rehabilitate the home and then put it back on the market.

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