Unsafe South End home will be razed

Deemed an “unsafe structure,” the vacant home at 701 S. Main St., Greencastle, is ticketed for demolition following action of the Board of Works and Safety.

Banner Graphic/ERIC BERNSEE

A dilapidated, boarded-up house in Greencastle’s South End has been declared unsafe and will be razed, the Board of Public Works and Safety determined at its recent meeting.

The ramshackle home, overgrown by weeds and other vegetation at 701 S. Main St. (corner of Block and Main streets), has been vacant for at least nine years, City Planner Shannon Norman said. Debris is piled four feet high inside, she noted.

Previously owned by the late Virginia Sligh, the home is apparently now the property of an out-of-town relative, Norman said.

A recent hearing made the “unsafe” designation official and the property owner was given until March 17 to repair or demolish the structure.

The property owner “has been agreeable” to the razing, Norman said, but it became obvious he was not going to do the work himself, so the city stepped in to have the structure deemed unsafe and removed from the neighborhood.

When no repairs or demolition were done by a prescribed deadline, the city was empowered to solicit bids on tearing down the structure.

McCullough Excavating, Bainbridge, was awarded the demolition contract by the Board of Works with a low bid of $6,750. Three bids ranged from McCullough’s low to a high of $15,000.

“Demolition’s not cheap,” Norman commented.

By contract, the demolition work is to be done by May 12 with the property then backfilled and seeded.

A tax lien will be placed on the property, which will remain undeveloped until someone pays the taxes and tax lien or purchases the property and does likewise.

Meanwhile, the Board of Works also authorized Lori Young of Curry & Associates Engineers, Danville, to do a study on the old IBM/Ascena lift station on the city’s East Side.

The lift station, which accepts sewage pumped from Fillmore and serves Greencastle’s industrial area, was installed in 1995 and has accumulated “quite a bit of corrosion,” Young said, suggesting that converting it into a “regional station” with capacity for future growth might be a wise move for the city.

“We really need to start looking at that,” Mayor Bill Dory agreed. “Oscar (King in the Water and Wastewater Department) has brought that up several times in the past.”

Young will put together a proposal to study the lift-station operation, determining what the city’s future needs might be and bringing it back to the Board of Works for consideration.

In other business, the Board of Works approved the purchase of a new Ford F250 4X4 pickup truck for the Department of Public Works, selecting the $26,498 quote from low bidder Kenny Vice Ford of Ladoga.

Also submitting bids were Bob Bowen Ford, Brazil, $26,590, and Andy Mohr Truck Center, Indianapolis, $28,398.

Trudy Selvia made the motion to accept the Vice bid, while Craig Tuggle seconded and Dory made it unanimous.

The next Board of Work public session is set for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 17 at City Hall.