News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The City of Jamestown is moving to clean up condemned properties.
Building Inspector Earl Sweat told the city council Monday night the city currently has 7 condemned properties. He said property owners have 30 days to clean up before the city moves in to perform any demolition work.
“One resident asked me, and I said, if not, the city would take over after 30-days and you would basically be paying the city,” Sweat said. “She wanted to know what the city would charge. After a couple of days thinking about that, I figured we should be able to give her an answer.”
Sweat said the current condemned properties are just the beginning and that he has other properties he believes need to be condemned.
“There are actually several other places I want to condemn,” Sweat said. “They need either drastic improvement or need to be torn down and removed. But I don’t want to do anything else until we get the approval of the board to do that.”
Sweat told the board he felt like a local company should be used to perform any property demolition. The Jamestown City Council tabled a motion to set a rate on clean ups until proper language can be drafted allowing the city to seek bids for the work.
“I just feel like it would be in the city’s best interest to use a local contractor to do demolition on these residences,” Sweat said.
Mayor Lyndon Baines said a board is in place to hear an appeals on condemned properties in Jamestown. Thus far, there have no appeals.
