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Washington Evening Journal
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Washington, IA 52353
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Council hears plan to refurbish dilapidated house
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – The Fairfield City Council heard from a local woman seeking to refurbish a dilapidated house that the city would otherwise have to demolish.
Sue Berkey appeared before the council on Monday, Nov. 24 to speak about her plans for 604 N. C St., a property that the city “red tagged” meaning it was deemed unsafe or had other code violations. Berkey said she and her son are purchasing the property from Connie Bryant to remodel it and then live in it.
Fairfield City Attorney John Morrissey spoke about how, in other cases like this, the buyer of a dilapidated home put money into an escrow account, which would go toward the demolition of the property if they could not remodel it as promised. Morrissey said this property had not been occupied “for a while” and that it was full of trash.
Berkey remarked, “I’ve done a lot of them, but this is the worst,” referring to home renovations.
Berkey told the council that she couldn’t start renovations on the building right away because it lacked heat, so asked for the council’s “clock” to start ticking only when the weather was nice enough for her to begin work on the property. During the meeting, council member Terri Kness looked up the assessed value on the home and found that it was $700.
Council member Doug Flournoy said he appreciated that Berkey was taking on this home rehabilitation because it would save the city $15,000 in demolition fees.
In other news, Fairfield City Engineer and Public Works Director Melanie Carlson informed the council about good news on a change order for the new fire station where the city would save about $84,000. The change order relates to the contracting opting to install a polycarbonate roof instead of a metal roof, and that the poly roof has the same warranty and life expectancy.
The council also unanimously approved a new procedure for groups and individuals to hold events in Central Park. Currently, groups must obtain permission from city council, but Carlson suggested an alternative method where an entity would instead submit an application to the Park and Rec Department, which would then approve it. The only exceptions would be for groups asking for a noise exemption, like if using a loudspeaker or bullhorn, or requesting to close parking stalls. Those requests would still need to come before the council.
The council will hold only one meeting in December, on Monday, Dec. 15.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
