The Jacksonville City Council has approved the demolition of another abandoned property in the city.
During a short regular meeting last night, the City Council unanimously approved waving the advertisement of bids to demolish a house at 1084 North Fayette Street.
Jacksonville Development Director Bryan Nyberg says the structure has become unsafe in recent months and needs to be addressed.
“About a month ago the front porch collapsed so it’s kind of danger for kids. We want to keep kids out of it. The house has been vacant and abandoned, basically, somebody walked away from it. So it’s one of those houses that’s not salvageable anymore, it’s beyond rehabilitation. So it’s another vacant and abandoned property that has to be cleaned up.”
The city received three bids to demolish the house with the lowest from English Concrete and Construction. The city will pay just under $11,000 to have the house torn down. Nyberg says there are some ways the city can try to recoup some of that money.
“There could be different options as far as the city could auction it off. First off we need to get the deed and title in the city’s name, and then once that happens we could auction it off. We could get the land bank involved in it to do the same thing. The land bank is more interested in rehabbing homes than vacant lots, but they also do vacant lots. So the main outcome or the main goal is to get these properties into productive use again so that’s what we are striving for.”
In other business last night, the council approved a first reading of the 2022 appropriations budget. City Clerk Skip Bradshaw told the Council that some minor adjustments had been made in the latest copy provided to the alderman for review.
The budget and appropriations for 2022 will be up for discussion and possible approval at the next city council meeting on February 14th.