Saturday, November 21, 2009
HOUSE TUMBLES DOWN
Hub City officials deemed residence unlivable; effort to sell property fell through
BY Emily Arthur-Richardt, earthur@aberdeennews.com
Published on Saturday, November 07, 2009
It took less than an hour for this home at 517 First Ave. S.E. in Aberdeen to be torn down Friday. The city hired Dahme Construction to tear down the home, owned by Rosie Hubert, after deeming it unlivable. (American News Photo by Emily Arthur-Richardt)
A house that the city of Aberdeen had said was unlivable was demolished Friday morning.
It took less than an hour for Rosie Hubert's house at 517 First Ave. S.E. to come down. The city hired Dahme Construction to tear down the structure. The charge will be billed to Hubert, City Attorney Adam Altman said.
"Then if she doesn't pay, we assess it to the property taxes," he said.
The house was the 146th nuisance property to be torn down in Aberdeen since 2003. Of those, 113 were homes or buildings and 33 were accessory structures - such as garages or sheds, said Mike Olson, code enforcement officer. Only about 10 of the demolitions were done by the city, he said. The others were done through cooperative efforts with the property owners.
In Hubert's case, the city told her in May that her home was unsafe and that she needed to make repairs or move out for good. The home hadn't had water or sewer for several years and there were concerns with the foundation. The city gave Hubert until Oct. 30 to repair the home.
Hubert had been in negotiations with a nonprofit group to sell the property, but earlier this month, negotiations fell through and the property was put on the market. On Friday afternoon, it was still listed for $20,000.
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It took less than an hour for Rosie Hubert's house at 517 First Ave. S.E. to come down. The city hired Dahme Construction to tear down the structure. The charge will be billed to Hubert, City Attorney Adam Altman said.
"Then if she doesn't pay, we assess it to the property taxes," he said.
The house was the 146th nuisance property to be torn down in Aberdeen since 2003. Of those, 113 were homes or buildings and 33 were accessory structures - such as garages or sheds, said Mike Olson, code enforcement officer. Only about 10 of the demolitions were done by the city, he said. The others were done through cooperative efforts with the property owners.
In Hubert's case, the city told her in May that her home was unsafe and that she needed to make repairs or move out for good. The home hadn't had water or sewer for several years and there were concerns with the foundation. The city gave Hubert until Oct. 30 to repair the home.
Hubert had been in negotiations with a nonprofit group to sell the property, but earlier this month, negotiations fell through and the property was put on the market. On Friday afternoon, it was still listed for $20,000.
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