After a public hearing Monday night, the Augusta City Council passed a resolution declaring a house at 606 E.12th Street as a unsafe and dangerous structure.
The structure is part of the Alan Dodson estate.
The city inspection office has received complaints about high grass, trash, vermin, and break-ins.
Dodson family members have been contacted about the conditions. One said he “did not care about the property” and another failed to respond to an inspection department notice, according to city inspector Dan Allen.
The resolution grants owners a 30-day period to rehabilitate the structure or have it removed. If that does not happen or commence within the next month, the city will take down the building and assess that cost as well as mowing costs against the estate.
In other business Monday, the Council:
• Approved a consumption on premises beer license for Brick’s Inc. for its restaurant/bar business at 409 State. Owners David Watts, Tom Sudduth, and Kim Sudduth attended the Council meeting.
Councilman Mike Rawlings voted against granting the cereal malt license.
• Set a work session on the Walnut River certification project for 7 p.m. Sept. 29 at City Hall.
A second work session was slated for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 6 for the purpose of discussing the Vision Statement for the Augusta community.
Councilman Rawlings voted against this meeting. He wasn’t against visioneering, but felt it was one too many meetings for the governing body.
Mayor Kristey Williams said a number of individuals and organizations have been involved in the visioning process. Those include Augusta Progress Inc., Downtown Augusta Inc., City of Augusta staffers, and the Augusta Chamber of Commerce.
She feels the Vision Statement will be a good guide for future community development.
• Appointed Councilman Tom Leffler to assist staff with review of proposals for the financial advisor services.
• Learned that City Manager Bill Keefer is doing follow-up work with county official Mark Detter concerning contradictory language in the application for the county-aided Neighborhood Revitalization program. According to discussion, its unclear on the property owner investment in the program.
• Heard from Councilman Doug Marr about planning for future maintenance of the streetscape project once it is finished. He suggested street sweeper schedule changes may be in order for the downtown’s “day life” and “night life.”
• Councilman Michael Huddleston said the governing body might want to give thought to stop signs or traffic regulations when the 12th & Dearborn improvement project is finished. He suspects traffic speed might pick up. Nothing is on the drawing board at present and staff told him they plan to wait and see if acceleration becomes an issue.
• City Manager Keefer continues to speak with county officials about an alleged “double payment” situation for the city-county safety center at 2100 Ohio. At one time, Augusta officials thought they would own the facility after so many payments under a 20-year lease agreement.
Councilman Robert Griffith asked Monday night if the city is “getting a fair shake” on the city-county building.
Augusta taxpayers make lease payments (around $49,000 a year) on the building through city taxes as well as payment to the County debt financing plan, according to discussion.
- - -
Earlier this month, the Council named Dorothy Ware to a board vacancy of the Augusta Housing Authority.
Voting delegates and alternates have been named for the Oct. 12-14 Kansas League of Kansas Municipalities conference in Wichita.
Augusta’s voting delegates will be Mayor Williams, Councilman Leffler, and Councilman Mike Wallace. The alternates will be Councilman Huddleston, Assistant City Manager JJ Allen, and City Clerk Erica Jones.
Augusta, Kan. —
