Published: October 29, 2008 10:16 am      

Owners defend houses as council moves to condemn

McAlester city councilors condemned 14 homes during a meeting Tuesday night, even after four of the homeowners addressed the council. One even threatened to bring suit against the city.

“That house is not vacant,” owner Wendell Cook said of his home at 1516 Park Drive in Newton Heights.

“It’s a second home. It has all our furniture in it.”

The council, meeting in regular session, unanimously agreed to declare all 14 homes as dilapidated and detrimental to public health and safety.

The vote followed an effort by Ward One councilman Chris Fiedler to remove two of the homes from the list, including Cook’s on Park, and 514 W. Cherokee Ave., but no fellow councilors seconded his motion and it died.

Ward Two councilman Donnie Condit was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.

Addressing the council about the condemnations were:

• Lynette Keith, who owns 400 W. Delaware Ave.

• Cook, who in addition to 1516 Park also owns 711 E. Electric

• Hilda Woodmore, whose family estate owns 210 E. Jackson

• Eldon Connor, who owns the property at 514 W. Cherokee.

Cook said he had been working on the Park Drive home when his wife became ill with cancer and spent three months in a hospital. Since then, he said, she has had to return to Mayo Clinic every 28 days for treatment.

A woman wearing a neck brace accompanied Cook to the meeting.

“Are you telling me this is your home? You live in this home?” Mayor Kevin Priddle held up a photo he said was taken by city building inspector Dennis Lalli.

“I can take a picture too,” Cook said, offering his own photos for the council to see. “Here’s a picture I took today.”

Priddle asked when the home was last occupied, and Cook said it was about three years ago when he was working with Lalli on a list of needed improvements.

“We have not had time to get down here to McAlester,” Cook said. “Her health comes first, dammit, before a house.”

Councilors asked about previous problems Cook has had with code violations at properties he owns, and he acknowledged an earlier council had once condemned the home on Park.

“I sued the next day, and they backed off,” he said. “If you want to go that route, we will.”

He also told the council that if they condemned the house Tuesday night, they “will be back in court.”

Later in the discussion, Ward Five councilman Buddy Garvin asked Cook about his other house on the list, at 711 E. Electric. The home has been for sale for five years, Cook said.

“I go by it every day,” Garvin said. “You know as well as I do that house is an eyesore and nothing has been done for years.”

Cook agreed.

Also addressing the council was Woodmore, who said the Jackson Avenue property had been her parents and is “tied up in probate court.” City attorney William Joe Ervin asked if the court had appointed a personal representative, and Woodmore said it was her brother, who had asked her to address the council on behalf of the estate. Ervin said the estate representative is responsible for making sure all laws are followed while the property is in probate, and noted the estate could ask the court for a stay of action on the city’s condemnation.

Woodmore’s father was Early Woodmore, a previous city councilman.

On another home, Connor told councilors his property, at 514 W. Cherokee, is nearly demolished and he needs about one more month to finish.

“I am trying to recycle 80 percent of the materials into something useful,” he told the council. “I would like to complete a ‘green renovation’ on a timely schedule.”

Ward Six councilman Sam Mason noted that whether a building is standing or demolished, the property still has to meet city codes.

Also addressing the council was Keith, who said she understood her home was condemned and wanted to know what she had to do to save it.

“I just need to know what I need to do,” she said, and Ervin directed her to contact Lalli’s office where she could post a renovation bond.

Other properties condemned Tuesday were:

• 3804 N. Fifth

• 601 W. Tyler

• 801 W. Harrison

• 607 E. Monroe

• 419 W. Madison

• 14 E. Jefferson

• 305 N. First

• 111 S. Sixth

• 816 E. Osage.

The property owners will have 10 days after they are notified of the condemnations to either bring the properties up to code or obtain permits for demolition or remodeling, councilors explained. The permits would generally give the owners another 90 days to fix a property.

The permits require a $2,500 cash bond, which would be returned if the property meets code within the 90-day period, councilors explained. Otherwise, the bond money would be used to pay the city to clear the property.