Last week members of the Marshall County Unsafe Building Board met in the second-floor meeting room of the County Building.
County Building Inspector Steve Howard discussed several properties including the home at 16514 Sherly Court just off State Road 17 in Plymouth. He said the home is uninhabitable as it sits but it is a fixable property.
This issue is the owners, Virginia and Eugene Gruwell are deceased and the heirs have done nothing. Also, the home has a reverse mortgage on it making it more difficult to deal with.
Board attorney Jeanette Surrisi said she spoke to the mortgage company which is aware of the issue but doesn’t want to address it. She also said the County Building Inspector found a sign on the door stating that the home had been winterized. In doing additional research Surrisi said the company hired to winterize the home is a default mortgage property preservation company. The comment was made that once a property is winterized it is typically listed with a broker for sale.
At this point, the County Building Inspector said there was a water issue that went from the upper floor into the basement but the leak was fixed although the floors and walls were not. The doors and windows are secure so that isn’t an issue.
Two neighbors, Jim Galt and Gary Treat spoke of their concerns with the condition of the property. While the county did mow the grass twice last year that didn’t really make much of an impact on the overall condition of the property. They are concerned about the impact on their homes with this menace in the neighborhood.
Surrisi said, “It’s extremely unsightly and sits in the middle of a beautiful little subdivision.” She also said they have no budget to fix properties only funds to demolish structures or can place fines on those who don’t take action on the board’s orders.
Unsafe Building Board President Trend Weldy told the neighbors their hands are tied. The home isn’t bad enough to order it demolished, the Unsafe Building Board has no funding to make improvements and the property has a reverse mortgage on it. He said, “We are aware and will continue to work on getting something done.”
