By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
One dilapidated home in Decatur will soon be coming down, but the city is likely to be “married” to another for some time, the board of works and safety was told at its latest meeting.
Asbestos has been found in the vacant, deteriorating structure at 133 N. Eighth St., Building/Zoning Superintendent Curt Witte reported. The board had earlier authorized taking down the building, but an investigation into the possibility of asbestos had been holding up the process.
Witte said Advanced Demolition Services, hired to perform the demolition, did find asbestos in the basement and will add $1,300 to its bill to remove the dangerous stuff.
That will drive the total bill to $20,261, which the city will charge the building’s owner, CONNEX of Huntsville, Alabama.
Witte told WZBD.com that the asbestos remediation is likely to begin the week of January 29 and demolition could begin the first week of February.
The razing will be complicated by the fact that a home to the south of the abandoned structure is only an estimated eight feet away.
As he has noted in the past, Mayor Dan Rickord said at the meeting that demolishing the building is a priority since it is leaning toward the home to the south. “We’re trying to make it safer,” he said.
Then there’s the home at 1034 Parkview Dr. (photo) which has been a pain in the city’s side for a lengthy period of time. “We’ve been dealing with this for several years,” City Attorney Anne Razo noted.
It has been condemned for a year or so and is “just sitting there, rotting,” Witte told the board at a previous meeting.
The structure was at one time due to be razed as part of the city’s flood mitigation program. Then the owner died and it was taken over by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Now, apparently, it is owned by Ruben Soto, who has informed Witte that he is a homeless veteran residing in Texas. He said neither he nor his relatives want the structure.
Using an unsafe property structure statute, the city can demolish the building without a court order, Razo told Witte.
However, since the USDA is involved and there are several other possible hoops to be jumped through, Witte said, “We’re probably gonna be married to this thing for the next two or three years.”