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HomeMy Public PortalAbout11-21-1968 135 Board of Works & Safety 11-14-68 5. We estimate another three to four months in this area. Mayor Klute reported that conditions on the north side of the 2400 block of National Road West are deplorable and constitute a major health hazard and will require major action by several Departments. Action was promised. Mr. Cecere reported that no letter had been sent advising the owners of the Keyes Building, located at 522-526 E. Main Street, of a demoliton order. The Building Inspector had found the building so impaired to render it unsafe for persons or property, threatening serious hazard to public health and welfare and should be condemned. Notice of the con- demnation was sent to the owners and the Board of Works notified that the owners had failed to comply with the written order to remove or raze the building. The Building Commissioner has filed with the Board of Works the order to demolish, the notice of condemnation, and the owners' failure to comply. Based on the foregoing, Mr. Cecere moved that the Board should cause written notice to the owners to advise them to appear before the Board of Works on Nov. 21st, at 9:30 a.m. , and show cause why the order of the Building Commissioner should not be complied with and at which time the Board shall hear and consider the matter, seconded with Mr. Jacobs and on unanimous voice vote was carried. The owners were notified in writing of the following findings by the Building Commissioner: 1. All windows blown outj. 2. All partition walls twisted and moved. • 3. Bad crack above bearing walls, interior and exterior. 4. Front wall shows movement of about lZ inches. 5. West wall in back room has bad cracks. 6. All front windows blown out. This building or structue was condemned on May 15, 1968, and condemned signs were posted at this time. The owners, William F. and Roland B. Keys, were notifed by certified mail with return receipt requested. The owners were ordered to demolish this building on or by June 15, 1968. There being no further business on motion duly made, seconded and carried, the meeting adjourned. /s/ Joseph E. Hoskins, President ATTEST: /s/ Lotte Hoskins, City Clerk ****** --x-x-***********-x-******** -****** **** ****-x- --x-********aE--x***** --x****x****** BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, NOVEMBER 21, 1968 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met in regular session in the City Hall, November 21, 1968, at the hour of 9:00 o'clock A.M. (EST) . Mr. Hoskins presiding with the following members being present: Mr. Cecere and Mr. Jacobs. The following business was had to-wit: The First Baptist Church requested curb cuts at South of "A" Street on 17th & 16th Streets, Mr. Jacobs moved this request be granted, seconded by Mr. Cecere and on unanimous voice vote was carried. Mr. Myron Tomlinson, 132 Fair Acres Road, manager of REMC, appeared requesting right to an easement for the Wayne County Rural Electric Corp. , between So. 16th and So. 17th Streets at "A" Street. The application having been approved by both the Zoning Administration and the Police Department, Mr. Jacobs moved, and Mr. Cecere seconded that the order be granted. So ordered by unanimous voice vote. 136 The Airport Commission requested the right of an easement across airport property to install underground lines to a signal tower. An existing ease- ment was found to be in the wrong place. The matter was referred until the next meeting. The Board considered a request by Dorothy B. Rowland for a refund of a $10.00 roominghouse license application fee paid December 28, 1966. License had never been granted. Refund ordered by motion of Mr. Cecere, seconded by Mr. Hoskins and on unanimous voice vote was carried. Mr. Jacobs reported a request by the Faith United Methodist Church, 2800 W. Main Street. , for an additional curb cut. Plans have been approved by the11/ Zoning Administration and the Police Traffic Department and are in accordancee with City Regulations. Mr. Jacobs moved this be accepted, seconded by Mr. Cecere and on unanimous voice vote was carried. Vandalism damage in the new City Building was discussed. A walking patrolman covers the building, it was decided that the contractor should be asked to provide protection to keep out vandals. Mr. Hoskins read the following letter from John A. Ruby, Executive Secretary of the Public Employees' Retirement Fund: Dear Mr. Hoskins: At the close of buisness June 30, 1968, it was found that again the Public Employees' Retirement Fund had surplus earnings for the last fiscal year. This surplus is made possible throught the excellent performance of the investment portfolio and proper management of the Fund. The 3% maxi mum interest rate, of course, has been creditied to the employee accounts. I am happy to report to you that the Board of Trustees has voted that the surplus earnings be distributed to the various employer accounts. For the year 1968 the Richmond Civil City account was credited in the amount of $1,613.77. It is also my pleasure to tell you that the Board of Trustees has adopted revised factors for computing retirement benefits. The effect of these new factors will be to provide slightly higher benefits for members retiring after October 1, 1968 and to make the reserves which have to be appropriated by the employer units slightly lower. If you have any questions concerning these recent changes, please feel free to write to our office. Yours truly, /s/ John A. Ruby City Attorney Cecere was asked by the City Council to look into the legality of controlling by ordinance the sale of bottled soft drinks from vending machines in certain areas of the city. He will report to the Board. Mr. Hoskins read a letter from Mayor Byron Klute requesting that the Board take action to cause the Penn Central Railroad to repair its crossing on Northwest 5th Street. The letter stated that representatives of the Rail- road had promised action on three different occasions but had not made any repairs. Mr. Cecere suggested that existing ordinances governing railroad crossings could be enforced, such as those regarding speed limits of trains through, cities or the length of time a crossing may be blocked. The City could arrest engineers of trains in violation of either regulation. Mr. Hoskins moved and Mr. Jacobs seconded that the City Engineer write another letter to the Penn-Central Railroad before further action is taken. Mr. Norman McLemore, 1521 Chester Blvd. , complained that a city-built road which is the sole access to his house, is not being maintained properly. The City built the road, he said, to lead to a sewer, after the Sanitary District, two or three years ago, bought the right-of-way from him. He said he had a verbal understanding with Mayor Cordell that the City would maintain the gravel road, but nothing was put down in writing. City Engineer Mr. Jacobs reported that he was familiar with the situation. The road, leading from Chester Blvd. west, had been built by DeBolt and the one-year maintenance guarantee has not yet expired. Mr. Ray Cassidy of Steeg' s Engineers is checking into the situation to see if the road was built properly according to specifications. Mr. Jacobs felt that the road had not been built properly 137 Board of Works & Safety 11-21-68 because parts of it had washed out. Mr. Cecere said that Mr. McLemore should bring in a copy of the easement so that the Board could come toga decision as to whether or not it should be amended to include a clause regarding maintenance of the road. Mr. McLemore will return at the next Board meeting. Mr. Robert L. Hudson, Jr. , appeared as attorney for William F. and Roland B. Keys, owners of the Keyes Bldg. 522-526 East Main Street. He read the following letter: November 20, 1968 Board of Public Works Richmond, Indiana Dear Sir: In reply to your letter of November 14, 1968, please be advised as follows: 1. W.R. Keys and R.B. Keys should not wreck the building situate on the premises known as 522-526 East Main Street because; (a) no irrepairable damage to the walls has been demonstrated, merely names. When asked if the explosion cause damage they refused to so committ themselves. 2. The owners of the-property known as 522=526 East Main Street cannot wreck afforesaid building because of the party wall existing between it and the building adjacent to the east owned by Hudson Properties, Inc. To wreck this building, without irrepairable damage to the building owned by Hudson Properties, Inc. , is impossible. 3. The parties wish to further advise the Board of Public Works and Safety that the afforesaid property is presently under option to the city of Richmond, and said option includes that the city shall pay demolition charges. 4. The parties William F. and Roland B. Keys, believe that since the city of Richmond has already agreed by virtue of the aforesaid option of pay demolition charges, that they will do the job in an appropriate, proper, and economical manner, and do a better job than the owners could possibly do✓ 5. The parties, William F. and Roland B. Keys, further believe that the question of whether or not they should show cause as to why the order of the Board of Public Works and Safety should or should not be complied with is not because the persons working for the City of Richmond and the Board of Public Works and Safety have not only begun demolition of the aforesaid building, but have it two-thirds done. Sincerely, /s/ Robert L. Hudson City Attorney Cecere asked of Building Commissioner Claude E. Goins whether or not the building was still in the same condition as at the time of its condemnation and whether or not a building permit had been applied for to make needed repairs? The Commissioner answered that the conditions had not changed and that no permit had been asked for. Mr. Cecere said that the reasons set forth in the letter do not justify a further delay in having the building torn down. He moved that the Building Commissioner's order to have the building torn down be affirmed by the Board, due to conditions found to be unsafe and dangerous to life and property, seconded by Mr. Jacobs. Mr. Cecere further moved that the Board order the Building Commissioner to cause the Keyes building to be wrecked, seconded by Mr. Jacobs and on unani- mous voice vote was carried. Mr. Hudson also appeared as attorney for the owners of the building at 615 Main Street in whose behalf he read the following letter: 138 November 20, 1968 Board of Public Works Richmond, Indiana Dear Sir: In answer to your letter of November 14, 1968, relative to and con- cerning the order of the commissioner directing that the building on afore- said property be wrecked; this should not be done because; 1. With the exception of a few loose bricks, existing walls (south, east, west) are structurally sound. The steel framework to a roof support and the existing wall are absolutely sound and undamged in any way. The steel re-inforced, poured concrete basement and joices that support the first floor are sound and in usuable condition. These facts areverified statements of a registered engineer. The Bureau of Buildings has not offered any authority2of equal conpetence to contravene this statement. 2. Any person or persons purchasing property in this general area from the Redevelopment Commission would undoubtedly be better off to receive this piece of property in its present condition rather than vacant land. Therefore, whatever disposition may be made, it would seem proper not to wreck this building. 3. Further, said building is at the present time subject to option to the city of Richmond and since said city of Richmond accepts the cost of demolition in the option, it would seem advisable that they pay for said demolition. For the foregoing reason, I suggest that any action by the Board of Public Works and Safety be delayed until such a time as the Redevelopment Commission has taken action on the option of the aforesaid building. Sincerely, /s/ Robert L. Hudson Mr. Hudson added that values which can be preserved have been found in the building. Mr. Cecere agreed that values should be preserved but added that the owners were informed of the state of the building on April 22, and that the Board has tried to accommodate the owners by allowing several continuances. Mr. Hudson answered that he is writing for a decision from the Redevelopment Commission as to whether or not they will accept his plans for the building. Mayor Klute entered into the discussion, saying that Redevelopment bonds must be sold before the City could exercise any options to buy property. Mr. Cecere ascertained from the Building Commissioner that the west wall of the building showed signs of movement, but that it was impossible to tell without cutting into the brick, whether or not the movement is relative to the foundation, impairing the structural soundness of the building. Mr. Cecere then moved that the matter be further continued until Wednesday, November 27, the next meeting of the Board so that the City Engineer could examine the building in the light of the owners statement that the building is structurally sound, seconded by Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Hudson advised the Board that the Board should make the decision without further appearance on his part. Mr. Hudson also advised the Board that the holes left by the buildings which had been demolished during the April 6th explosion had been incompletely filled and that basement walls had not been removed, allowing rodents to travel freely underground. He suggested that a rodent control be implemented. Mr. Cecere said that the city does not own the land and that the owners should be required to take care of the problem. Mr. Goins suggested that the County Health Officer be asked by the Board to investigate the problem and report to the Board so that the Board could take necessary-action. Mr. Jacobs reported that although money has been appropriated for the pending storm sewer project the money needs to be transferred. Mr. Cecere suggested that the contractor askcthe State Board of Accounts to clarify whether an ordinance or a resolution is necessary to transfer the funds. Board of Works & Safety 11-21-68 139 Mr. Hoskins read the following letter from the Mayor: November 19, 1968 Mr. Joseph Hoskins, President Board of Public Works & Safety Dear Joe: In a recent survey conducted by the National Commission on Urban Problems, which represents samplings from 18,000 local governments, the following facts were brought to our attention. (1) 15% of all munincipalities in the 50,000-plus population group lack housing codes (2) 85% of cities and towns with 5,000-plus population either have no building doce, and they do not use model codes, or often, these towns make substantial departures from existing codes. (3) Many communities, of our size and smaller are not staffed well enough to have an effective code enforcement program. What is the situation in Richmond? (1) We have an effective Building and Housing Code. (2) With an ever increasing turn-over of housing ownership in older neighborhoods, we are finding that very often properties, which were owned by people living in the neighborhood for many years, are now owned by landlords who rent the property. In many cases, these properties are not maintained as well as they had been in the past. Substandard conditions start to increase in these areas, and these tend to establish a "chain" like reaction which can eventually lead to a blighted neighborhood in a period of a 11/ few_^short years. (3) The problem can be corrected by a series of steps taken jointly by the local government and private owners. a. Neighborhoods need to be encouraged to take an interest in forming neighborhood improvement groups. b. Local government must do its share of keeping streets, curbs and gutters in a good state of repair. c. Rental properties, and their landlords, must be encouraged to establish some guide lines for renters and hold same to compli- ance. d. There is a code enforcement program now in effect in Richmond which should be of tremendous help in preventing blight. How- ever, there are only three persons in the Bureau of Buildings. One man now makes housing code inspections, and two men inspect all new housing, commercial buldings and industrial construction. e. It is apparent to this administration that we are not receiving the maximum benefits from our housing code because of a lack of an adequate staff in the Bureau of Buildings. Respectfully yours, /s/ Byron E. Klute Mr. Richard Flanagan, Sunray DX District Manager, appeared concerning the Diesel fuel being supplied to the City. Mr. Ed Ross, Sanitary Engineer and Mr. Elmer Toschlog, Street Commissioner, both said that they felt the fuel supplied to them is not meeting requirements necessary to run the city trucks. Mr. Flanagan explained that his company had available engineering services which would run tests on all city equipment to determine what kind of fuel was needed. He needed authorization from the Board to ask the engineers to come to Richmond. Mr. Jacobs moved thattthe fuel oil supplier be-directed to ask for a survey team to come to Richmond to analyse the fuel problem, seconded by Mr. Hoskins and on unanimous voice vote was carried. 140 Board of Works & Safety 11-21-68 Sanitary Commissioner Frank Robinson indicated that the City' s landfills are inadequate to absorb the material being brought in by wrecking com- panies who are demolishing condemned buildings. He suggested that in the future wrecking contracts, the Board specify that wreckers have to dispose of material elsewhere. The problem of varmints in the City Building was discussed. Both the Fire and Police Departments had noticed rats in the building, believed to be coming from torn-down buildings. Mr. Hoskins moved that Roger Pest Control be hired to take care of the problem immediately, seconded 111 by Mr. Jacobs and on unanimous voice vote was carried. The vacation of an alley next to the Earlham College campus from National Road to S.W. "D" St. west of College Avenue was brought up before the Board. Mr. Cecere moved that a resolution be passed confirming the Declaratroy Resolution 5-1968, vacating the alley. Mr. Cecere moved that a resolution be prepaired permitting the vacation of a portion of North 4th Street from "A" Street to "B" Street, North "B" Street from 4th to 5th and an alley running from North "A" to North 5th, provided the Post Office Department grant the City of Richmond a 10 foot right of way along the north side of North "A" Street from North 5th to the first alley East of North 3rd, together with sufficient area on North 5th to properly align the street, seconded by Mr. Jacobs and on unanimous voice vote was carried. There being no further business on motion duly made, seconded and carried, the meeting adjourned. e /f (PIAV.0 (71 49-410-LA /s/ Joseph E. Hoskins, President Attest: Lotte Hoskins, City Clerk --x-********4 *-x--x-**********-x******-X*********-x-**** -4HE***** -x--x-#ac-***-) x-ac-**** BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE CITY OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, DECEMBER 5, 1968 The Board of Public Works & Safety of the City of Richmond, Indiana, met in regular session in the City Hall, December 5, 1968, at the hour of 9:00 o'clock A.M. (EST) . Mr. Hoskins presiding with the following mem- bers being present: Mr. Cecere and Mr. Jacobs. The following business was had to-wit: Two representatives from Jehovah's Witness Church, appeared regarding improvements on an alley from "J" to "L" Streets at So. 15th. It was arranged for them to return next week after the City Engineer has had an opportunity to check into it. Mr. Jacobs reported that the change order for modification of the manhole at N.W. 5th and "L" Street has been taken care of. Mr. Hoskins reported that he had a telephone conversation with a repre- sentative of the Penn-Central Railroad, Spiros Marcaletti, who assured him that the railroad crossings would be repaired now and completely rebuilt next spring or summer. Capt. Stout reported that work started on the N. W. 5th St. crossing this morning. Chief Don Strahan and Captain Walter Stout appeared to discuss the parking situation for the new City Building. The map of the parking area shows that only 139 parking stalls are available instead of the 185 as origi- nally announced. The Board ordered the Police Department to work out the proper parking and traffic markings, giving assigned slots to City officials. Mr. Jacobs reported that drawings and specifications had been completed for a sanitary sewer project along Toschlog Road and National Road West. Mr. Jacobs moved that Improvement Resolution 1089-1968 be approved and that a public hearing be scheduled for January 2, seconded by Mr. Hoskins and on unanimous voice vote was carried.