inside the property. This property did experience a fire, so there's smoke and water
damage. It hasn't had utilities on. It has had 18 summary abatement orders since it
went into the vacant building program two years ago. As you know, I'm always
concerned with fire damaged structures lingering in neighborhoods and damaging the
social fabric. I do have on screen here a photograph of the front of the house. This is a
substantial structure and that is the main reason that I have been lingering with this
file, really hoping to get some traction with it. If this could be saved, that would be
really great. I'm hearing first from Greenfield that from the mortgage, they're owed
$200,000. Later, It looks like it's $100,00 approximately. The family has not been
showing up in any of this. We have Joseph and Toria Ray as the owners, and there
was an ownership and encumbrance report. All the different parties were identified.
They are deceased. The building was posted. Everyone who shows up on that report
was notified. Zeletes later identified that there was a representative of the estate.
Those parties, both the attorney and the personal representative, received certified
mail from my office and signed for it. It indicated the actions that were going on here,
and that they were invited to participate in them, and we have had no contact, in spite
of the fact that they signed for those letters and we know they have that information. I
can only look at this and think that it is one of those situations where the calculus
works out that it is not worth spending the time and energy to do the fix, because more
is owed that what you'll get out of it at the end of the day. That's what it looks like on
the surface, that the families made that decision and the bank has made that decision
in its slow motion. There was talk about, "Why not post the performance deposit of
$5000?" There was concern, originally and ongoing, from the financial institution that it
would not be returned. Every single performance deposit the city has ever accepted,
when the work has been completed, it has been returned. I have an amendment in the
resolution in front of you that actually restates that policy explicitly in the resolution.
We do not have an inspection report. There was an ask, " Why doesn't the City use its
police powers to access the property and do an inspection?" We don't do that. The
owner would need to apply. This is not an emergency. There's not a fire going on in
there. There's not somebody who's broken into the building. We would reserve using
that kind of power for those kinds of situations. It is at an impasse, and without those
two things I can't recommend that you continue to treat this property differently than
other properties, in spite of the attributes that it could potentially have for the
neighborhood. As it sits, it's a large fire damaged structure with no plan and no clear
owner taking responsibility. My recommendation is removal within 15 days, and I do
that regretfully. If there were motion, I would say, yeah, I want to continue working on
the file, but I don't see that and I haven't seen that for six months. It's been vacant for
over 2 years. The fire occurred in October of 2021.
Council President Brendmoen: I appreciate the acknowledgement that the building is
an individual entity, but when there's this kind of fire damage and garbage and
languishing property, it has an impact on the social fabric around it and the value of
properties. We're always looking at the balancing that we want to get these projects
done and that some neighbor is living next to a burned out house for two years. That's
a challenge. So, your recommendation is removal of the structure within 15 days.
Moermond: Regretfully so.
Brendmoen: I will just say for the record that this is a very uncommon request from the
Legislative Hearing Officer and it does sound like you've really turned over all
opportunities for success here. I have had an opportunity to talk with Ward 1 about
this item.
Jessica Zeletes: Demolition is not appropriate at this time. There are legal, factual,
and policy concerns at play here. Towd Point Mortgage is not the owner. The interest is
the lien of the mortgage. They have been actively trying to protect this home. The
taxes have been paid. Insurance has been kept up to date. The homeowners are
