Fire Contained To Garage Of Milford Home Set To Be Demolished
January 31, 2023 at 10:33 p.m.
Fire Contained To Garage Of Milford Home Set To Be Demolished
By Jackie [email protected]
The Milford Fire Department received the initial call at 7:30 p.m. for a fire at 105 N. Maple St., Milford, which was a vacant house, said Assistant Fire Chief Brian Haines. The property is owned by Ronald Davidhizar.
When the fire department arrived on scene, flames were visible from the rear of the structure. The fire was contained to the garage area. Haines didn’t have an estimate for damage caused by the fire.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Plain Township Fire Department provided manpower.
At the Jan. 9 Milford Town Council meeting, town attorney Jay Rigdon brought to the Council’s attention that in the matter of the Ron Davidhizar litigation, the court denied Davidhizar’s motion to lift the judgment to demolish the properties at 605 Kenwood and 105 N. Maple. He said Davidhizer’s attorney submitted a counter offer to secure a bond of $10,000 for each of the two properties and he’ll continue to renovate them and have them ready to rent in three month’s time. If at the end of three months it’s not ready, the town could keep the $20,000.
Rigdon pointed out if they do accept this offer and he doesn’t do the work, they’d have the money upfront to pay for the demolition work. Rigdon also said if they don’t accept the counter offer, Davidhizar does have 30 days to appeal.
Councilman Ken Long said, “For the benefit of the town — we’ve been dealing with this since before I came on the Council — it’s time to get this done.”
At that point, Davidhizar made his presence known and said his properties are not structurally unsound and have good roofs and good furnaces.
“To tear them down is a bad idea. You’d lose housing and lose tax revenues. I’m putting my money where my mouth is. You already have a shortage of housing, this makes it worse,” he said.
Roman Troyer, of Troyer Construction, was with Davidhizar and said the work needed — drywall and windows — was mostly cosmetic and asked who declared the homes unsound.
Rigdon said, “We’re not going to go over the history of the case.”
Council President Doug Ruch said, “We’re in the 11th hour now and we’re going to make a decision.”
The Council unanimously approved moving forward with demolition of the two properties.
The Milford Fire Department received the initial call at 7:30 p.m. for a fire at 105 N. Maple St., Milford, which was a vacant house, said Assistant Fire Chief Brian Haines. The property is owned by Ronald Davidhizar.
When the fire department arrived on scene, flames were visible from the rear of the structure. The fire was contained to the garage area. Haines didn’t have an estimate for damage caused by the fire.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Plain Township Fire Department provided manpower.
At the Jan. 9 Milford Town Council meeting, town attorney Jay Rigdon brought to the Council’s attention that in the matter of the Ron Davidhizar litigation, the court denied Davidhizar’s motion to lift the judgment to demolish the properties at 605 Kenwood and 105 N. Maple. He said Davidhizer’s attorney submitted a counter offer to secure a bond of $10,000 for each of the two properties and he’ll continue to renovate them and have them ready to rent in three month’s time. If at the end of three months it’s not ready, the town could keep the $20,000.
Rigdon pointed out if they do accept this offer and he doesn’t do the work, they’d have the money upfront to pay for the demolition work. Rigdon also said if they don’t accept the counter offer, Davidhizar does have 30 days to appeal.
Councilman Ken Long said, “For the benefit of the town — we’ve been dealing with this since before I came on the Council — it’s time to get this done.”
At that point, Davidhizar made his presence known and said his properties are not structurally unsound and have good roofs and good furnaces.
“To tear them down is a bad idea. You’d lose housing and lose tax revenues. I’m putting my money where my mouth is. You already have a shortage of housing, this makes it worse,” he said.
Roman Troyer, of Troyer Construction, was with Davidhizar and said the work needed — drywall and windows — was mostly cosmetic and asked who declared the homes unsound.
Rigdon said, “We’re not going to go over the history of the case.”
Council President Doug Ruch said, “We’re in the 11th hour now and we’re going to make a decision.”
The Council unanimously approved moving forward with demolition of the two properties.
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