Council passes ordinance to board up dilapitated houses

Huntington City Council unanimously voted to pass the ordinance authorizing a contract to start boarding up dilapidated homes Monday evening.

"We need to get these houses down and boarded up and we need to get them fast," said Scott Caserta, councilman for District 7.

The ordinance awarded the contract to Capital Builders at $6.10 per square foot for board up services on vacant properties located within city limits. The contract will be for two years and the Community Development Block Grant funded by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development will provide funds, according to the ordinance.

"The sooner we can take the houses down, it prevents the potential inhabitants of drug trafficking from moving in and taking over the properties," Caserta said. "It decreases the chances of somebody burning them down and homeless people moving into them."

Currently there are 155 properties on the list, but there are more than 200 that need to be taken care of, Caserta said. Several of the properties have owners the city has tried to contact, but they are out of town or just walked away.

"The city does their best to notify them and give them a chance to take care of their property," Caserta said. "If they don't act at this point in time the city is ready to start moving forward and act for them."

This is a great step for the city and at the same time it is unfortunate it has become necessary, Caserta said.

"Dilapidated property also decreases the value of your home as well as it's an eye sore," he said. "It's a safety issue, it's a cosmetic issue and we have dealt with it for to long. We've finally got tools in place now to where we can start taking care of these properties and tearing them down and boarding them up in a timely matter."

The council also unanimously voted to pass the resolution authorizing a memorandum with the Southwestern Community Action Council. The resolution is to purchase seven computers and other equipment for the Fairfield East and A.D. Lewis Community Centers.

"I want to thank Southwestern for purchasing this equipment to be used in the centers," said Sandra Clements, councilwoman representing District 5. "I think it will be very helpful to the adults and the children who will get to use them."

Councilman James Ritter represents District 1 and introduced a resolution that wasn't on the agenda. Ritter said the citizens of Westmoreland have requested the administration to consider building a new fire station in the area with the left over money in an account.

"The fire station now was built in 1928 or something like that," Ritter said.

The council unanimously voted to pass the resolution of council supporting a new fire station in Westmoreland.

Tess Moore can be contacted at moore231@marshall.edu.