The Marshall County Unsafe Building Board conducted a public hearing on March 28th in the second-floor meeting room of the County Building for five cases. Members of the Unsafe Building Board include Bill Cleavenger from Culver who serves as President, Kim Berger from Bourbon, realtor Jim Masterson and the County Council representative, Stan Klots from the Commissioners, Dennis Manuwal from the City of Plymouth, Ed Barcus from Argos, board attorney Janette Surrisi, Faith Freed from the Marshall County Health Department and County Building Inspector Charles Garmon.
The first case is at 840 Center Street in Walkerton. Garmon said he was able to discuss issues with Village Real Estate who is in control of the property that is for sale. He told the board they’ve boarded up the windows and check on the property every couple of weeks. The company’s clean up crew is behind schedule. If the property doesn’t sell in the next couple of months they will put a new roof on it. They told the Building Inspector that they show it a couple of times a week. The recommendation was to keep monitoring it and make sure they continue with improvements.
3163 Plymouth LaPorte Trail in Walkerton was the second case. Federal Home Mortgage Corporation is in control of the house which is in very bad shape. Arroyo Seberino came into the county office last week and said he purchased the home. The building inspector said he needs to completely gut the property to see what the condition is to determine the damage. An engineer may be needed to determine the structural integrity of the structure. Mr. Seberino plans to have improvements well underway in 6 months if the structure’s integrity is approved.
Edin David Ordonez owns the home at 17722 Walnut Street in Polk Township. This was the third case the Marshall County Unsafe Building Board heard. The property caught fire in December 2022 and nothing has happened. The building inspector said it is a total loss. Notice was sent certified mail and returned undeliverable. The demolition order was mailed and returned. The order will be published in the newspaper twice and then the board will conduct a public hearing and then the board can act even if the owner doesn’t respond.
Roy Harter has the property at 13738 4th Road in North Township. The building inspector said this property was also damaged by a fire. Demo and clean up started shortly after the fire and progress is happening.
The final case was at 3141 Plymouth LaPorte Trail in Walkerton. The property was recently purchased by Henry Ankney. The county building inspector told the Unsafe Building Board the BZA approved a variance for a small engine repair shop at the property in the last couple of months. Ankney has plans for the property and the building commissioner wanted to give him some time to address the issues. It was noted that he has been making progress on junk. There will be follow-up prior to the next meeting.
The attorney said the unsafe building orders do supersede any permit related to the building or land use.
