By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
WABASH, Ind. – Don and Peggy Fraley still have until April 4 to have their home at 310 Euclid St. razed and the lot cleaned up.
The Wabash Board of Public Works and Safety, on Jan. 3, gave the couple 90 days to have the home demolished, or the city would begin the demolition process. Thirteen days later, the home was destroyed by fire; the remains of the structure, along with several vehicles and a shed, are still on the property.
The Board of Works, on Feb. 21, discussed the matter with Mrs. Fraley.
Building Commissioner James Straws told board members he and Code Enforcement Officer Kipp Cantrell inspected the house the day after the fire and labeled it as unsafe.
“At the point where we’re at now, it just needs to come down as soon as we can get it down,” Straws said, suggesting the work could be done quickly by the Wabash Street Department.
Cantrell also noted, upon questioning by the board, that several vehicles remain on the property.
Board member Todd Titus asked about a shed on the back of the property. Mrs. Fraley said she intends to remove the shed and will have the vehicles moved as well.
She also said she intended to have the home demolished, but has heard nothing from Wabash Fire Department officials as to if its investigation into the fire was complete.
“There is no further investigation,” Fire Chief Barry Stroup told the board. “There’s also nothing left inside the house that’s salvageable.”
If the home is demolished by April 4, the Fraleys won’t need to attend the meeting at which an update was scheduled.
Near the end of the meeting, a neighbor, Kent Mullett expressed concern over the time the couple has to demolish the remains of the building.
“I’m a little discouraged that we’re going to continue to give them time,” he said. “It’s unsafe. It’s a blight. The only thing they’ve done since they’ve met you guys last time is move a lawnmower from the house to out by a car.”
He said he doesn’t believe the home will be demolished on time and the board’s order will not be met.
“I own rental properties in this town,” Mullett continued. “I was sent a letter here a while back that we were in violation of two city codes. I accept responsibility for that. We were in the wrong. I rectified the problem.
“In this letter it gave me 10 days to take care of the situation. I guarantee you that these people are in violation of more than one or two codes.”
Board member Jim Reynolds told Mullett that there’s a process that the board must follow in situations such as this and, unfortunately, the process drags on at times.
“But ultimately, come April 4, the property is going to be coming down and the property is going to be cleaned up by the street department, per this meeting we just had,” he said. “That is the path we’ve chosen here. As a member of the Board of Works, I appreciate your patience as a neighbor. But unfortunately, when it comes to knocking homes down, we just can’t do that, and I know you’re not asking for a 10-day period, but we can’t do that in a 10-day period.”
Mullett said he thought that once the home burned, it was put into a different status and the work could be done sooner.
“Like I said, I now the history of this,” he said. “April 4 there’s not going to be nothing done. The city doesn’t want to get into the junk car business. They’re not going to take care of them vehicles. What then?”
Mayor Scott Long said the city would indeed take care of the vehicles.
He added that hopefully the street department “has time on April 5, if it’s not down on the fourth, to take a payloader up there and push it a little bit.”
He also said the city would bring in a tow truck to remove the vehicles if needed.