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Chester City Council grants delay on George Street house

Posted December 15, 2014 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler The Herald Tribune

CHESTER -- The Chester City Council is giving Clarence Johnson a chance.

The Carbondale resident, who recently purchased the house at 1047 George St., has until the council's Jan. 20 meeting to show progress on rehabilitation of the property.

"He has to either make the house safe under the guidelines we sent him or present a plan for rehabilitation, which he is trying to do," said City Attorney Jeff Kerkhover.

Johnson reported to the Council during its Dec. 1 meeting he purchased the property based upon an advertisement on Craigslist. The previous owners of the property, whom Johnson said were Kathy and Tony Walker, neglected to tell Johnson the house had been slated for demolition.

"They didn't give me nothing," Johnson said of the former owners after the meeting. "I found out (about the demolition) from Jo Koeneman."

Jo Koeneman is owner of Koeneman Agency in Chester.

Johnson said he purchased the house at the end of October. The Council approved a motion at its Oct. 20 meeting to declare the structure "dangerous and unsafe."

At that meeting, issues with the house were described as a cockroach infestation, missing windows, wiring and large amounts of trash.

"(The demolition) is still pending," Kerkhover said during Monday's meeting. "We can still proceed if he doesn't adhere to the guidelines."

When asked by the Council regarding a timeframe for the project, Johnson said he could not provide one, citing the winter season. He is working with Tom Stewart on the project, a man Johnson said "works out of his house.

"I want you to keep the City Council posted and report back in 30 days," said Chester Mayor Tom Page.

Johnson said the estimated cost for the renovation is $33,000, not including electrical and plumbing. He announced plans for a metal roof, windows and other improvements.

Johnson also reiterated his plans to use the house as his residence after renovation. Demolition and cleanup costs are estimated at $10,700.

"You realize you have a long way to making people happy on this," said Page, who added the house's fate will be an agenda item at the Jan. 20 meeting, to Johnson.

"I'm working on it," Johnson replied.

Also on Monday, the Council approved two ordinances relating to the city's fire department. The first related to the reimbursement of education costs for firefighter certification.

During the Nov. 5 meeting of the Chester Police, Fire and EMA Public Safety Committee, Chester Fire Chief Marty Bert asked city aldermen Robert Platt and Dan Geisen about changing Ordinance 5-24.

The current ordinance indicates reimbursement of education costs are to be made one year after the firefighter completes his Firefighter II certification.

The Council approved Bert's request to change the ordinance so the firefighters will be paid incrementally as they progress through their training instead of the lump-sum method.

"These guys are out $1,600," said Bert, who added he has four firefighters preparing to take the course next month. "Most of these guys we've retained for five, six, seven years."

The other approved ordinance authorized payment to volunteer firefighters during periods of "declared disasters."

"Whether we ever use this or not, we have to have an ordinance on file," said Bert, who added two members of his department helped with Hurricane Katrina relief in 2005.

Bert said the maximum amount of firefighters his department could send to any major disaster is four, otherwise fire protection in Chester would be too low.

The next meeting of the Chester City Council is scheduled for January 5, 2015 at 7 p.m. at Chester City Hall.

Other Action:

The Council approved sending three water department employees to attend Basic Water Supply classes.

"If you drink the water in Chester, you want people to know what they're doing," said Alderman Russ Rader.

A $124.68 contract with Lazerware for the Chester City Hall server was approved, as was ratifying Chester Gas Department's action of purchasing 10,000 units of natural gas for March 2015.

The Council also discussed street overlays in several sections of the city - Swanwick Street from Robert Street to Lee Street, Washington/Lincoln boulevards, Coffey Drive and from Henrietta Street to Riverview Boulevard.

Alderman Ray Allison asked which project was the priority and was told Swanwick Street in front of Chester High School is No. 1 on the list.

The Council previously rejected bids from E.T. Simonds and Keeley & Sons, Inc. for the project in August, stating they exceeded the engineer's estimate of $51,037.50.

Committee Reports:

The Finance Committee recommended payment of two invoices, a change order and a pay estimate.

An invoice from J.T. Blankenship, Inc. for engineering services for the reconstruction of Garfield Street was approved for $2,699.50.

A second invoice from J.T. Blankenship relating to engineering services for water system improvements for Welge Drive and Route 3 was approved for $3,220.50.

A change order was approved for Amrent Contracting, Inc. for the same Welge Drive/Route 3 project. The final pay estimate from Amrent Contracting is in the amount of $44,428.80.

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