Cleaning up the neighborhood

After months of fighting to clean up a property on E. Sewell Street that was long ago determined a nuisance, the Sundance Council heard last week that the Crook County School District has taken ownership of it. Sharing the district’s plans to clean up and repurpose the lot, Facilities & Purchasing Manager Randy Gill asked for the city’s help on the financial side of removing the old buildings.

“We’d like to demolish the house and take off the out-buildings, remove all the cleared trees and utilize the cleared lot for a greenhouse and storage shed,” said Gill.

“It’s my understanding that the city has been trying to get this property cleaned up for several years, and that is our plan.”

The city announced its intention to start the formal process of cleaning up the property in September, 2019, and has been working to do so since January, when a real estate analysis said the existence of the house itself does not improve the value of the lot on which it sits. After the owner failed to respond to letters or abate the nuisance, the city planned to tear down the property itself.

However, these plans were put on hold upon the news that the school district was interested in the property. As well as confirming that the purchase had been made, Gill’s visit to the council chambers included a request for financial assistance in abating the nuisance.

Tearing down the buildings will create approximately 50 tons of rubble, Gill said, which would cost somewhere in the region of $4500 to put in the city’s construction and debris pit at the landfill.

“We would like to ask if there was any way you guys would consider waiving those landfill fees, and in return we would clean up the place and eliminate an area of slum and blight for the city,” Gill said.

The mayor described the school district as already proving itself a good neighbor at the property. Old vehicles have already been removed from the lot, though Gill pointed out there are a few items such as a jet ski that need to be dealt with.

Brooks suggested a reduction of 50% in the fees that would be charged by the landfill. Council members agreed they would be willing to split the cost and passed a motion to that effect.