The City Council Monday approved spending $34,000 to demolish a condemned house at 601 O’Dea St.
That’s at least three times more than it usually costs to tear down a house. But this job won’t be a routine demolition.
“The problem is that there have been concerns at that location that there could possibly be some retribution” against the crew tearing down the house, Mayor Gary Moore said. “It’s a safety concern.”
Boers Excavating was the only bidder for the job. The bid was so high, Moore said, because the contractor will have to move his equipment away from the site at the end of each day, so that it isn’t vandalized after the workers leave.
Keith Edwards, the city’s community development officer, said a police officer will be standing by at the demolition site the whole time the contractor’s crew is there.
“It’s a touchy one,” Edwards said.
He said the house has been a problem for many years. And Moore said there were problems at that address when he was a police officer — a job he left 12 years ago.
Edwards said he inspected the house in the past, and inside there was trash “literally from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling.”
“It’s been a nuisance property in more ways than one,” he said. “It’s been a thorn in my side for many, many years. ‘Horrific’ isn’t a good enough word” to describe the situation.
Moore noted that the Boers firm was the only bidder, and said another contractor who regularly bids on demolitions contacted him when the city advertised for bids on this one and said there was no way he’d be bidding.
From the audience, Adam Cernovich questioned the wisdom of spending so much money to tear down one house. Edwards said this is “far from a typical demolition,” and he has been working on the case for three years.
“I’m not sure what other recourse we would have at this point,” Moore added.
Edwards said the city has demolished 15 condemned properties in the past year, thanks to a $165,000 state grant. After this demolition, there will be $8,000 in grant funds remaining, which should cover the cost of one more demolition.
***This copy has been edited to correct the name of the audience member who spoke at the council meeting.
