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                    "Ward 5 Councilman Gary Jefferson speaks to a crowd of residents Monday during a community meeting at the Sim Scott Community Center. Residents at the meeting raised concerns regarding the city\u2019s blight program and the need to more aggressively address dilapidated properties.  Braden Simmons/Dispatch Staff\t\n\t\t\tEmily McLarty, since moving to Columbus in 2023, has seen several houses in her neighborhood on 11th Avenue North deteriorate into eyesores.\nThose homes, she said, have overgrown yards, broken windows and squatters that are draining the value of other homes in the neighborhood, including hers.\n\u201cWe\u2019ve had to call consistently about it,\u201d McLarty told The Dispatch after the town hall. \u201cThere\u2019s constantly squatters. When I say the weeds are (between 8 to 9 feet tall), it\u2019s about to become reforested. We have another blighted property right down the street from us (and) it also has squatters at the corner of Military (Road) and 11th Avenue. So we have two right there. It\u2019s making our property values fall. Safety is an issue. People can\u2019t sell their houses because these houses are there. So they can\u2019t move out. They can\u2019t get any money for their houses, and so it\u2019s really a huge issue.\u201d\nMcLarty wanted to know what the city is doing or planning to remedy those issues, which is why she and other Ward 5 residents gathered Monday for a town hall at the Sim Scott Community Center.\nGary Jefferson, councilman for Ward 5 who organized the town hall, told residents the city is taking those issues seriously and addressing them through its recently improved code enforcement methods and the city\u2019s blight program.\n\u201cI know it can look bleak at times, but every day we are working or thinking about something that can help this community,\u201d Jefferson said. \u201c\u2026 It\u2019s a struggle for us, and I know we\u2019re all tired of looking at it. I\u2019m tired of going to different places and seeing what I see. But every day we have to, the community has to work together to come up with solutions.\u201d\nCitation process\nNathan Katona, building department director, told The Dispatch there are currently two methods for addressing a building out of code.\nThe property owner could be issued a municipal court ticket for issues like broken windows, peeling paint and holes on the exterior of the house. The fine for each infraction is up to $1,000.\nIf left unfixed after a court hearing, those fines could grow by $1,000 for every additional day the problem remains, Katona said.\nKatona said this process was revived about eight months ago when code enforcement and building inspection were merged under one roof.\n\u201cWe fired that back up (but) it\u2019s been on the books,\u201d Katona said. \u201cIt\u2019s not something we created. It\u2019s been there for a long time. \u2026 It wasn\u2019t used.\u201d\nThough it\u2019s only been about eight months, Katona said the process has already helped to push homeowners in the right direction for addressing exterior issues with their homes. That is, for the homeowners his department can find.\nIf a property owner cannot be located or is deceased and a building is in a severe state of dilapidation and deemed a public nuisance, it is brought to the council for consideration to begin abatement and demolish it, Katona said.\nTo demolish a home, it typically costs the city between $5,000 and $7,000, Katona said. Those costs balloon by several thousand more if the building has wide-scale issues of asbestos.\nKatona said in the last eight months, there have been about four properties in the city demolished, and there are about 12 more in a backlog for future demolition.\nFor homes with large-scale issues of dilapidation or that reach the point of needing to be destroyed, Katona said abatement is typically the best process, but the city looks to its federally funded blight program to remedy some of those issues.\n\u201cIf we can\u2019t get a hold of anybody, abatement is the only (option) left,\u201d Katona said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the things that the blight program answers. That way the city isn\u2019t having to spend money and put these liens on a piece of property that\u2019s never going to be paid. It\u2019s basically the city is just spending that money, which we do not think that\u2019s a good use of taxpayer dollars if there\u2019s another option.\u201d\nBlight program\nGeorge Irby, interim planning and community development director, said the blight program is \u201cnot where (he wants) it to be,\u201d but is well on its way to gaining traction.\nThe program, which launched in 2022 to address deteriorating properties in the city, is funded by $6 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and $100,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act.\nThe program really got moving earlier this year, Irby said, when it saw its first property demolished in January.\nSince then, the program has purchased roughly 22 of the 350 properties identified by the city. Irby said 14 of those properties were sold for roughly $13,000 to the city from the state of Mississippi after they took them over due to tax forfeiture.\nThe city purchased the other eight properties for roughly $83,000 combined.\nOf those 22 properties, Irby said three have been demolished and one has already sold for $2,000 to a developer. Those other two have been advertised for sale.\nIrby said part of the issues that have existed in making progress on these blighted properties are obtaining title opinions and locating the heir of a property.\nIrby said conversations with HUD officials have also slowed the purchase of some properties with liens, because of confusion on whether the city can make those purchases.\n\u201cThere is a federal statute that prohibits using federal funds where the benefactor is owed, like if the city has a lien on some property, you can\u2019t use the blight money to pay off those liens,\u201d Irby said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s some questions because we did put in our policy that we wanted to be able to buy all liens, and that is being discussed now to see if we will be able to do that.\u201d\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n      \n      \n        Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.\n      \n    \n\n\t\t\t\n      \n      \n        Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 40 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community."
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