A home on East Main Street was ordered to be demolished Tuesday by Hearing Officer Tom Earhart.
The property at 1015 E. Main St., Warsaw, is owned by Jason and Bobby Wade.
In October, the building code violation hearing for the Wade property was rescheduled to Tuesday’s date. The Wades were not present at the October hearing or Tuesday’s. The home also was previously discussed at the September hearing.
The home has been vacant, but people have gone in and out of the residence. The utilities were not connected and repairs have not been made. It’s still condemned by the county health department.
There was a tax sale in October and the taxes on the property were paid by a third party.
Code Enforcement Officer Dana Hewitt said Tuesday that the “update is that there is none.” He said the Wades came into the building and planning department office, requesting information on what exactly was needing repair in order for the property not to be demolished. The Wades were provided a letter showing 28 interior and exterior violations on the property.
There was no further conversation with the Wades, except an email from Bobby explaining that some personal situations between she and Jason have held up any work on the home being completed. Hewitt said nothing has moved forward on the home in two years.
Earhart asked who bought the property at tax sale, if the purchasers have been determined and if any attempt to contact them was made. Building Commissioner Ray Behling said he believed the taxes were paid, but not by someone who was taking over the property.
Hewitt said the Wades were sent a letter notifying them of Tuesday’s hearing. Behling said when they received Bobby’s email, a meeting was requested Tuesday morning but no response was received as of the 10 a.m. hearing.
Earhart said based on what Hewitt and Behling told him, that there was no third-party purchaser of that property from the tax sale, that the taxes were paid by somebody on behalf of the Wades and the Wades are still the owners of the Main Street property, he didn’t have a choice.
“As a result, I don’t think I’ve really got much choice but to go ahead and order the property demolished and enter a demolition order with respect to that,” Earhart said. “If the Wades would happen to contact you before the property gets demolished, before the order is entered, let me know. But that’s what I’m going to go ahead and do.”
The Wades have 10 days from Tuesday’s hearing to appeal Earhart’s order in court.
The case against Little Crow Lofts, 201 S. Detroit St., Warsaw, had been continued from the October hearing. No one representing the property was at the October or Tuesday’s hearings.
Behling said at the October hearing that the city received a complaint in July of debris falling from the ceiling on the upper floors and water leaking through the windows. He said they addressed the management and talked to them about it and they said they’d get the repairs done.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Behling said, “We’ve been working with them on the interior and the exterior. Interior-wise, they started the process and said it was complete, as far as the ceiling anyway. But I talked to tenants yesterday who said it’s still there and they didn’t complete it. According to Commonwealth out of Wisconsin, they’re telling me that it’s been completed and I haven’t heard anything different.”
Commonwealth is the property owner of Little Crow Lofts, an income-based apartment building.
He said Commonwealth hasn’t started on the leaking windows, but were trying to get bids. He said Hewitt has been working with them on the exterior.
Hewitt said he went by Little Crow Lofts Tuesday morning. “The environmental nuisance had been ongoing and brought to your attention at the code hearing in October. It’s finally been resolved after a period of time that it hadn’t been and more conversations with those in charge,” he said.
The case was continued until the 10 a.m. Jan. 28 hearing so the property can be monitored.
In other business:
• The case against the Economy Lodge, 3521 Lake City Highway, owned by Jay Patel, was continued to the Jan. 28 hearing.
A storm had caused damage to the roof, which resulted in water and other damage inside the hotel.
Cole Kline, with Hope Public Adjusters, representing Patel with his insurance claim on the property, said repair work was being done on it as quickly as possible but dealing with insurance companies on the big claim takes time. He did say all the mitigation work has been completed.
• The case against Ruckman Family Limited Partnership, 1042 E. Winona Ave., for the property at 530 N. Park Ave., was dismissed. No one representing the property owners was present.
Behling said they had a meeting on the property this week with the contractor and all the minimum requirements of the building code have been met.
• The case against Terri Lou Davis, 602 S. McClellan St., also was dismissed.
Hewitt said the property had come before them for a second time in October, but when he went out Tuesday morning it had been cleaned up. The items that were in violation had been moved off the property or stored out of sight of the public.
“As it is now, the property is in compliance with city ordinances,” Hewitt said.
Dan Davis, Terri’s husband, said the property “won’t be like that no more, you can believe that.”
