Time is on the side of most residents who have business with the East Ridge Housing Commission.
At Monday’s regular monthly meeting at City Hall, the commission granted each of the three property owners who appeared before them an additional 30 days to address their problem properties.
Landon Johnson and his mother, whose name was never given, appeared on behalf of Ronald Johnson, a disabled man who owns a condemned house at 3412 Bennett Road. The Johnson’s house was condemned some time ago and they appeared before the housing commission last month. During the May appearance, code enforcement officials detailed the problems with the house, which included structural issues. The commission ordered a structural engineering report be performed to see if the house could be renovated.
In Monday’s meeting, Johnson told the commission that he has been working, essentially by himself, to fix up the property. He has shored up a falling down porch on the front and done some plumbing work. In addition he has cut down the overgrown front yard of the property.
Johnson showed a report provided by a foundation company which stated that four floor jacks could be placed under the small home to shore up the foundation. Johnson said the cost would be $2,800. That work has yet to be performed.
Charley Ritchie, a codes department employee, said Johnson has yet to pull any city building permit to perform work on the house.
Jim Winters, the acting chairman of the housing commission, told Johnson that “it looks like you need a crew in there.”
Winters directed Johnson to communicate with codes enforcement officials concerning work on the property. He emphasized that an engineer needed to evaluate the house to “see if it’s worth fixing.”
Winters then provided information to Johnson about state and federal grants that his family may qualify for to fix up the house.
The commission voted unanimously to give the Johnsons another 30 days to have an engineer evaluate the structural issues concerning the house.
Ora Powell, who owns property at 1603 South Seminole, didn’t bother to appear before the commission. Last month her son appeared on her behalf and said he was addressing issues of overgrown scrub, junk in the yard and a stagnant, uncovered swimming pool.
Ritchie told the commission that the pool was still full of water and remained uncovered. Winters noted that Powell, who is a neighbor, had telephoned him. She told him that she had spent $2,000 on property clean-up and asked for an additional 30 days. Winters instructed Ritchie to send Powell another letter saying that she had two weeks in which to drain and cover the pool. The commission voted to give Powell more time to clean up.
Sharon Buquo, the owner of a condemned house at 400 Donaldson Rd., appeared before the commission asking for more time to remove items from the house, which she is using as storage. Buquo, who said she owns numerous rental properties in East Ridge, said she has received two bids to raze the house, one of those is “tentative.”
The commission voted unanimously to give her an additional 30 days to take steps to have the house knocked down.
