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Council rejects rehab plan for George Street house

Posted January 20, 2015 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler The Herald Tribune

CHESTER -- Another chapter of the continuing saga of the house at 1047 George St. was written during the Chester City Council's meeting Tuesday.

The council voted 5-3 - with aldermen Dan Ohlau, D. Michael Blechle and Russ Rader voting "No" - to not accept owner Clarence Johnson's rehabilitation plan for the property, which was first declared as "dangerous and unsafe" by the council three months to the day ago.

In an interview after the meeting, city attorney Jeff Kerkhover said the city will file a petition in court as its next step.

"It would cite (Johnson) into court and he would have to explain to the judge what his intention is," Kerkhover said. "He would be served with a 30-day summons."

The council spent a significant portion of its meeting discussing the matter, which seemed to frustrate Chester Mayor Tom Page. Johnson, who is a Carbondale resident, was not present at the meeting and was said to be in Louisiana, according to Page.

"It's almost insane that we are still sitting here discussing this property that we all agree on is ugly," Page said.

"It may not be as pretty as you want it to be, but just because it isn't pretty doesn't mean we can ask a judge to tear it down," Kerkhover said to the council during the meeting.

Prior to its decision, the council heard a report from Dave Bargman, who is Chester's code enforcement officer. Bargman said he inspected the house last Friday.

"There are no bugs, but it's winter," Bargman said. "But 99 percent of the trash is gone. The basement has been cleaned out and the doors have been nailed shut.

"The basement window needs securing, but beyond that, the building is secure."

Alderman Donnie Clark, who lives near the house in question, said the only time Johnson has been at the property was the day after the council's previous meeting, which was Jan. 5.

"He moved some stuff into the alley and to my knowledge, he hasn't been there since," Clark said.

Alderwoman Nancy Crossland asked where the council was legally on the issue.

"The council has found that (the house) was dangerous and unsafe," Kerkhover said. "It is up to (Johnson) to demolish it, make it safe or present a plan for rehabilitation."

Discussion moved on to whether or not Johnson is the recorded owner of the property. According the Randolph County Assessor's Office, Johnson is the recorded owner of the property. The most recent sale date, according to Assessor's Office records, is September 26, 2011.

In previous statements to the Herald Tribune, Johnson said he bought the property from Kathy and Tony Walker based upon an advertisement on Craigslist with the intention of making it his residence.

That purchase was made "sight unseen," according to Page, and the former owners neglected to tell Johnson of the "dangerous and unsafe" declaration by the council.

"I have a hard time swallowing that we're talking about this piece of property for this long for no more money than (Johnson's) already put into it," Page said.

At the council's Dec. 15 session, Johnson was given until Jan. 20 to show progress on the property. Tom Stewart, of Tom Stewart Construction, was previously identified as helping Johnson with the rehabilitation.

Also at the Dec. 15 meeting, Johnson said the estimated cost for renovation was $33,000, not including electrical or plumbing. Demolition and cleanup costs were estimated at $10,700.

"We, as a city, are trying to move ahead with some of these properties," Page said. "(Chester Police) Chief (Ryan) Coffey is working diligently to identify and address problem areas."

In other action items, the council approved the purchase of a TIG welder for the Maintenance Department for $2,811.86. It also formally approved an ordinance designating the north side of East State Street as a no parking zone.

The council also approved a resolution authorizing the execution of the Law Enforcement Mutual Aid Agreement and the existence and formation of the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System by intergovernmental cooperation.

"This is re-upping an existing contract," Coffey said. "They have a tactical response team and we've used them for search warrant execution.

"It's a state support group."

A request for zoning variance from Chad Krantz and Jenny Krantz was approved. Chad Krantz wanted to build a house on a 250-foot by 250-foot lot located behind 2603 State St., but the property was zoned agriculture - where the minimum lot size is three acres.

The Zoning Board of Appeals had previously approved the variance in a separate meeting. Kerkhover said the new lot will have access to city water and sewer services.

The council also voted to authorize Page to execute a "Letter of Intent and Risk Disclosure" to Bernardi Securities to discuss refunding 2005 bonds and debt certificates with 2015 bonds.

"We refunded a portion of 2005 bonds and paid some of them off with new bonds with a lower interest rate," Kerkhover said. "It's non-binding. We don't have to do anything, but it allows them to talk to us about this refunding."

Finally, the council approved ordinances abating the tax levies for the year 2014 to pay principal and interest on several general obligation refunding bonds from the years 2005, 2011 and 2013. Total amount on the bonds is $12,440,000.

Committee Reports

The Cemetery and Finance Committee approved six invoices, totaling $75,979, from J.T. Blankenship, Inc. for engineering services on separate projects involving Buena Vista Street, the Union Pacific Railroad crossing, sewer system improvements, water system improvements, the reconstruction of the three-way stop at Route 3 and State Street and water system improvements for Route 3.

Page said bids on the water line project from the three-way stop to the water tower near Chester Grade School will go out on Feb. 5.

A change order request from Red Dot Construction and Equipment Rentals for the Garfield Street project was approved for $6,440.62 and a pay estimate for the same project was approved in the amount of $33,394.

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