While city council received some reassurances from Dr. Elizabeth James about her intention to clean up her property, she was slightly vague about her plans to renovate the house.
James, who lives in Brockville, Ont., appeared by video during council’s Aug. 10 regular meeting to appeal a cleanup order for 1511 Hastings Street West and request an extension to Nov. 30. After some discussion, council eventually granted an extension to Aug. 21 while upholding the cleanup order.
Selling the house
James plans to sell the house since she has no intention of living here, she told council. She has already contacted a real estate agent to sell the building quickly.
Since James is not a contractor, she does not know how much it would cost to renovate the home to make it saleable, she said. It would depend upon whether she sold the house as a fixer-upper or as something already upgraded; the house is not liveable right now. She has already spent enough money on the building while facing more obstacles than she anticipated; her goal is to minimize her losses.
There is still a tarp covering part of the roof, Coun. Scott McMann pointed out. While there has been pressure from the media about this issue, city hall needs to bring this property to an acceptable level. The house needs work, whether James does it or someone else does it.
Demolishing the house
Besides demolition, McMann wondered what other actions city hall had considered taking against this property.
The municipality could sue James for the cost of addressing items in the cleanup order, said Michelle Sanson, director of planning and development. City crews would complete the work and city hall would charge the cost to her.
A separate order for demolition could be issued if city council wanted the house — currently vacant — gone, she continued. City hall would issue a tender for demolition and then issue another cleanup order. The entire process would take two to three months to complete.
Timeline of property ownership
While James said she has owned the property since November 2018, council’s report indicates cleanup orders were issued in 2016 and 2017, said Coun. Dawn Luhning.
“This property has been in a fair bit of disrepair for much longer than two years,” she added. “Whomever the owner is or has been, neighbours in that neighbourhood have been dealing with the property for quite some time. There are some inconsistencies in either the neighbour’s report or yours. Something is not jiving with me that this has been going on for so long.”
James acknowledged that she received the orders, but did not own the property then. However, she paid the property taxes and did what she could with the home.
Some problems already addressed
James’ contractor, Glenn Batke, told council he expects to address the roof issue by Aug. 15, while the odour has disappeared. He is now working on touching up the exterior. Yet, he expressed surprise that city hall wants the eavestroughs and downspouts fixed since they are relatively new.
Batke explained that he helped James clean out her house last year. He later ripped out the carpets since the neighbour, Carter Currie, allegedly let his cats into the house to defecate. Currie also allegedly created a path for his pets to her house through the fence. That gap was later boarded up.
City administration has not registered any of the cleanup orders against the property’s title, said city clerk Myron Gulka-Tiechko. If council gives the extension, city administration could register the interest payments, so future purchasers are aware of the issues. Those issues would then become their responsibility if they are not remedied before the sale date.
“It’s disappointing this has played out in public,” said Coun. Chris Warren, especially since city hall deals with hundreds of bylaw issues every year and almost none of them reach council’s table. This issue has created problems in the community, especially due to the media.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Aug. 24.
