Liens May Be Wishful Thinking

Monday's City Council agenda contains two resolutions for liens to be placed on properties, one for demolition of a dangerously  fire-damaged property and one to pay the cost of police and fire watches over a partially-demolished building.

The city is seeking $36,901.63 from the owner of 430-32 West Second Street for work done after a Feb. 10 fire that officials say left the structure in danger of collapse and included other dangerous conditions such as the presence of oil and propane tanks.

Owners Venus and Alvin Hannah lost all their possessions in the fire, Mrs. Hannah told Plaintalker, and the family is embroiled in litigation over the ownership of the site. It is unlikely the family can pay anything and if the city in fact owns it for back taxes, the lien is moot unless someone wants to buy a vacant lot with a lien attached.

The other building, at 117-125 North Avenue, caught fire suspiciously  early on Dec. 17. After a false start at demolition plans, the owner said he would restore the building. Meanwhile, a 24-hour police watch was put on the block between Park Avenue and Gavett Place in addition to a fire watch. The safety watches went on for more than a month. As broken down in the resolution, the fire watch cost $15,296.29 and the police watch cost $51,090. The city will place a $66,386.29 lien on the property.

Back in 2010, the parapet of another building on North Avenue began falling apart and within days the 1886 historic structure was demolished. The cost was $200,000 and the cleanup took a couple of months. Although plans were to recoup the loss through placement of a lien, the owner's whereabouts were unknown. After fill settled at the site, it had to be re-filled at more cost.

This building had been deteriorating very visibly for some time. Observers said pro-active intervention early on perhaps could have saved it. As it is, the building's demolition produced an ugly gap in the historic street-scape  across from the main train station.

The progression to a lien placement after such incidents is standard practice. But one wonders how many such liens ever get paid.

--Bernice