LINCOLN -- A 30-day deadline for a property owner to repair or tear down a dilapidated apartment complex in Lincoln has passed, and Lincoln city officials say no changes or repairs have been made to the apartments.
Lincoln City Council gave the go-ahead at its May 15 meeting to seek bids to demolish the building, and the city last week placed a newspaper advertisement for those bids, according to Rhonda Hulse, city business manager.
About eight adults and three children are still living at the apartment complex, according to one tenant, Judy Simpson. The building has 16 apartments in all.
Simpson last week said she has placed boards on the balcony in an attempt to make it safer. She said she has experience in construction and believes the building can be fixed if everyone works together on it.
"The tenants are willing to do what they need to do to save it," Simpson said. "We're like a committee. We help each other out. We live by the golden rule."
Simpson said she cannot afford to move elsewhere. She noted that another apartment would require a deposit and she would have to make deposits to turn on utilities.
To fix the structure in question, plumbing, electrical components and boards would have to be replaced, Simpson said. The building also needs to be painted and the roof needs repairs in places, she added. She also has mice and a lot of cockroaches in her apartment, she added.
The city filed a complaint March 5 in Washington County Circuit Court against property owner James Stewart, asking the court to declare the complex a nuisance based on its rundown condition, to condemn the property and to issue a preliminary injunction to stop the owner from violating further city ordinances and codes.
According to the lawsuit, Stewart has owned the two-story, L-shaped complex, located at 119 N. Carter St., since June 4, 1988. The complaint states that Stewart rents the apartments for $400 per month.
City attorney Steve Zega presented evidence against the property owner at a pretrial condemnation hearing held April 18, and circuit Judge Doug Martin ordered Stewart to repair or tear down the property on or before May 21.
Martin reviewed more than 40 photos of the property and said, "This is no place for children or adults to be living."
James McCredy of Fayetteville, represented Stewart at the hearing. No tenants attended.
Some of the main concerns expressed by city officials include broken windows, trash and debris, leaks, mold, failing electrical outlets, lack of plumbing, ventilation and dysfunctional heating and air units.
Fire concerns are that the building has no firewalls or sprinklers. The second-story balcony is considered unstable and unsafe if firefighters had to get people out.
Lincoln fire administrator Jay Norton has said the question is not if but "when" a fire would occur at the apartments.
"From my standpoint, every 24 hours for that place is 24 hours too many," Norton told city council members during one discussion about the condition of the apartments.
Norton and Lincoln building inspector Jeff Hutcheson conducted outside inspections of the apartment complex last week and submitted their reports to Zega.
Norton said he walked around the complex and did not see any improvements. Another problem now is the grass needs to be mowed, and that makes it look even worse, Norton said.
Hutcheson also said he did not see that any improvements had been made at the complex.
His report will be one simple paragraph, Hutcheson said: "There's been no changes or improvements."
Hulse said Stewart or someone representing him has not applied for any permits for work on the building.
Hulse said she has given contact information to one person about possibilities for other places to live.
The problem, Hulse said, is that she cannot fill out applications for people.
According to the city's water records, water usage has gone down drastically, so Hulse said she believes people have moved out of the building and not as many people are living there as in the past.
Zega last week said he is working on new motions to file to try to move the process along.
"There's going to be more action coming forth soon," said Zega, though he wasn't ready to discuss what he would file with the court.
"Our position is that it wasn't fixed in 30 days like the judge ordered," Zega said.
A trial on the merits of the complaint is set for 9 a.m., June 25, and Zega said he hopes the judge would rule on any new motions on the same day.
McCredy could not be reached for comment on whether Stewart plans to make any improvements to the building.
General News on 05/30/2018