Board of health agrees to 'second chance' on property
May 7—OTTUMWA — The Ottumwa Board of Health could have directed the demolition of a dilapidated property. Instead, it gave the owners one more chance.
The board voted against a resolution condemning the property, but later passed an amendment on a 4-1 vote requiring Yahara Cervantes and Juvenal Marquez to devise a plan within 30 days and have at least 50% of the removal completed in three months, and then full completion within six months to remove a placard at the property at 512 N. Green St.
The problems predate the current ownership. The home has been placarded since 2018 and the property has changed owners twice. Over that time, the property has gone from 11 deficiencies to 23. The city of Ottumwa had sent notices to both owners during that time, with the most recent inspection in February.
Cervantes, in addressing the board, cited mail she'd received that did not include a requirement to provide a plan to clean up the property, and a general communication breakdown in that her father lives in Illinois and isn't fluent in English.
"So he also didn't receive any letters, and due to weather it was too cold or we didn't have anything to do with the apartments," Cervantes said. "So we weren't going to the address, so we had no idea these letters were being hung up on the door."
Interim director of building and code enforcement Zach Simonson said the city sent a letter by certified mail, as city code outlines, Feb. 3 and posted a notice on the building. He also believed from his inspectors that Marquez generally understood the expectation to fix the deficiencies at the inspection in February.
"The expectation with a placard case isn't that you can wait because weather's bad. These were issues on the interior that had to be addressed, whether it was winter or not," he said. "And none of these were addressed."
Board member Matt Dalbey sympathized with the language barrier issue, and noted the city has gone longer without enforcing code for property nuisances, which led him to suggest the amendment.
"I think there's a lot of issues here that we can't get total clarification on, and I know building materials right now are astronomically high," he said. "I am not objected to giving them a little bit of an extension so there's no question all the T's have been crossed and all the I's have been dotted."
Board members Skip Stevens and Bob Meyers weren't as sympathetic. They were the only two members to vote for condemnation, and Meyers was the lone 'no' vote on the amendment.
"I can't believe that somebody has a property and doesn't know that they get mail there or whatever," Stevens said. "But they better show some progress and show it quick, or it's done."
Meyers was bothered by a history of similar neglect.
"There's a pattern. You know somebody takes it, then they sell to somebody else and they sell it to somebody else, and then we get pictures like this," Meyers said, pointing out photographs of disrepair both inside and outside the home. "And we still want to make more concessions. With all the work on nuisances and trying to get these straightened up, and here we are again.
"I feel bad, except that we've seen this over and over again. How many owners and nothing is done?"
Dalbey, however, believed the owners needed another chance, but not without more oversight.
"I would feel more comfortable if they had one last opportunity, but that they're clear that if no progress is made, month by month, then we're right back here," he said. "And this is serious. This is the last chance."
— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury
