La Cygne duplex owner given 30 days to determine cost to make structure safe for habitation
- Roger Sims, Journal Staff
- 14 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Roger Sims, Journal staff
LA CYGNE – The La Cygne City Council voted to give the owner of the duplex in the north-eastern part of the city 30 days to get an assessment of a structural engineer on what it will take to make both units safe for occupancy.
That decision came after a brief official public hearing followed by nearly an hourlong discussion on condemning the building at 825 N. 7th Ct. on Wednesday, June 3.
That decision came on the recommendation of Zachary Mathies, city planning and zoning administrator and police chief. It also came after council members were able to review an report from Randolph Finkle, a building codes specialist from the Institute for Building Technology and Safety.
Included in that assessment will be a requirement to take any interior wall covering off the walls so that all structural framing can be inspected.
The motion unanimously approved by the council gave the owner 30 days to establish, to the city’s satisfaction, the cost of repairs or alterations to structure. If that cost doesn’t exceed 50% of the fair market value of the property, officials will give the owner time to make those repairs. However, if the cost is more than 50%, the structure must be removed or demolished by the owner.
Mathies suggested that progress on the case be reviewed by the council during its regular meeting on the first Wednesday of each month.
The house has been off limits to the people who lived there since a fire damaged the north side of the duplex on April 14. However, Mathies said that was a requirement of the insurance company and that he expected that company to release the property within a day or so following the council meeting. Once that happens, former residents can enter the structure to gather any personal items.
However, because of the council’s vote that the structure remains unsafe and unfit for human habitation, the former residents cannot return until repairs address the issues.
Mathies told the council that the insurance company had received a report on the structure as well and the council voted to request a copy of that report.
Andrea Kincaid, whose family resided in the home and who represented her brother who owns the structure, said that no tarps had been put on the roof and recent rains had caused the bedrooms in the basement to have water damage.
Mathies made the comment that a sump pump in the basement had not always been on during recent rains. Arrangements were made to connect the pumps to electricity, but he said the owner did not contact Evergy about connecting the power supply.
While Kincaid did not dispute the claims of structural problems laid out by Mathies and Finkle, she refuted claims made by Mathies at the April 15 council meeting. She said that his claims that children were living in the basement without an easy means of escape were untrue and she went on to say the her children were not in danger as Mathies had stated and that the Linn County Journal had reported.
Both the ITBS inspector and Mathies recommended that the residents not be allowed to move back into the structure until all structural, electrical and other safety concerns had been resolved.
“Inspector Finkel found significant life-safety concerns related to occupancy of the structure, means of egress concerns, and basement sleeping areas lacking adequate emergency escape and rescue openings,” Mathies wrote in his recommendation.
“(He) advised that that if the corrective measures cannot be reasonably competed, or if a cost analysis demonstrates repairs are impractical, demolition of the structure may be the only viable means of eliminating the hazards and rendering the property safe,” Mathies report said.
City Attorney Jeffery Deane said the city could create a fact-finding document for the owner that lists the repairs to be made and also detailing the workmanship needed to assure the repairs will be done correctly. That document can also outline a schedule for completing the repairs.
Councilman Jerome Mitzner said that according to his research of websites like Zillow, the duplex was worth anywhere from $231,000 to $288,000. The structure was originally a one-story residence, and there has been considerable expense to add a second story on the north unit of the duplex.