A developer is taking steps to save an aging Iola home from the wrecking ball.
Brendon Crain of Crain Holdings and Investments LLC and Iolans Craig and Crystal Richey told City Council members Monday they are working to preserve a home at 506 E. Lincoln St.
The home is one of four going through the city’s condemnation procedures.
Code enforcement officer Gregg Hutton spelled out the home’s needs. It needs a new roof, and the siding has begun to deteriorate, and dense vegetation around the structure has drawn complaints from neighbors.
The Richeys have a contract to sell the property to Crain, who informed the Council he is getting bids on getting the roof replaced, and will soon address the vegetation and other issues.
Council members were receptive to Crain’s plans, noting he has worked well with the city in the past, and even gotten another home off of the potential condemnation list.
Nevertheless, the City is proceeding with the condemnation paperwork — Crain and the Richeys knew they would do so — with the intention of dropping the matter once the improvements are made.
Hutton pointed to one home where the owner made enough repairs to get the city to halt the condemnation process, only to do no more discernible work in the months since then.
The process will take a few more months, anyway, Hutton added, so the earliest the demolition would occur would in August.
Crain asked the Council about seeking out other property owners with similar circumstances.
“I’d really like to somehow create that conversation, get other people involved as well,” Crain said. “That way we can restore something before it’s too late.”
COUNCIL members also discussed a property at 415 N. Elm St.
The house’s front porch has fallen inward, the back porch and roof are both sagging, and the foundation is deteriorating, Hutton said.
Hutton said he was uncertain if the owner was still living there. The only working utility is water, but usage has been minimal for the past two years.
Every attempt to reach the owner, through certified mail, and even reaching out to relatives, has been unsuccessful.
“I’ve had other people tell me he’s living there,” Hutton said. “But we can’t catch him there.”
