The property at 9020 S. Smalley Lane in Claypool has been an eyesore for neighbors for a number of years, but now that the county owns it, it’ll be demolished, cleaned up and sold at auction.
During the Kosciusko County Commissioners meeting Tuesday, county attorney Ed Ormsby updated the board on the Smalley Lane property.
“This is a property that is going to be submitted for condemnation and then clean-up. There was a deed that needed to be corrected. That deed has now been corrected. That will be recorded. The county owns the property, but we are going to want to present at the next meeting a potential waiver of fees so that the property can be cleaned up and sold,” Ormsby said.
The property was owned by Tim Hedrick.
At the next Commissioners meeting, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. July 19, Ormsby said the Commissioners will consider the petition for waiving those fees.
Commissioner Brad Jackson asked Kosciusko County Health Department environmental scientist Bill Baxter if, since the county has the funds, the property and the deed straightened out, if he’d rather go about the process by getting the bids out for demolition, knock it down and sell the property. Baxter said if there’s funds available, then yes.
“Then when it goes to sheriff’s sale, it will be a clean buy,” said Commissioner Bob Conley. He said the county has been dealing with the property for a couple years now. “I was really under the impression that when it went to sheriff’s sale last time that it had been sold.”
He said he talked to some of the people from down in that area - many who attended the Commissioners meeting Tuesday - and they told him that the fees were so high that no one could buy the property. “We’re going to do away with those fees. It’ll go to auction just like it was a clean property and the highest bidder will buy that at a sheriff’s sale,” Conley said.
He made a motion that they proceed with the demolition and clean-up of the real estate with the title being cleared now and have it ready for sheriff’s sale, and when it goes to a sheriff’s sale and it’s purchased, the purchase will be “clear and ready to go.” Jackson seconded the motion and it was approved 3-0.
Later in the meeting, Nate Meyers, who lives across from the property, said, “I’m very pleased to hear that you’re going to use the money to clean up the property. We’ve dealt with this way too long.”
He asked for a timeline on the demolition and the process for it being demolished.
Baxter said when the county owns the property - which Jackson said they do - the county then needs to decide what it’s demolition requirements will be.
“It’s already been condemned, it’s already been deemed unsafe property. It’s already been done,” he said.
Baxter said the way the KCHD has done other demolitions in the past was to set what the parameters are, advertise it in the newspaper, accept bids by a certain date and have a public bid opening. Whoever was awarded the bid to demolish the property, normally, they would have 30 days to start and 10 days to finish once they started.
Jackson said Ormsby has looked into it and the county “for sure” has ownership of the property. “That’s for sure, so let’s just get it done. Let’s get it out for bid. We own it,” he said.
Immediately after the Commissioners meeting, neither the Area Plan or Recorder’s offices had it in their records yet that the county owned it. The property owner was still listed as Hedrick.
In an email, Ormsby said, “The property was put up for sheriff's sale on August 25, 2020. Judge (Chad) Miner has confirmed that the county bid its judgment at the sheriff's sale and that the property is now owned by the county. However, it appears that a deed was not recorded after that sheriff's sale because of a technicality with the form of the deed that was submitted at that time. The corrected deed showing ownership by the county will be signed and recorded this week.”
Conley asked County Auditor Michelle Puckett to have the bid parameters and deadline for the demolition ready by the Commissioners’ July 19 meeting.
After the meeting, Baxter said he deemed the property as an unsafe building on July 1, 2021. It was condemned several years ago.
There was a mobile home fire started by a wood burner on the property Oct. 23, 2018. The wood burner was the main source of heat for the home, according to a Oct. 24, 2018, Times-Union story. Baxter said after the fire burnt up the home, Hedrick lived in an RV in the back yard but the Area Plan got him for that, Baxter said.
Lee Taylor, Area Plan office, said Hedrick had a camper and a bunch of junk in his back yard as far back as 2016. It was filed in the courts in July 2016.
“We have been working, trying to get things cleaned up. He would do some, and then stop,” she said.
From July through November 2016, she said Hedrick had some hearings for residence additions and some decking. The county granted them as long as Hedrick got permits for them.
In January 2017, Area Plan took Hedrick to court and was given a judgment, but his attorney said they’d have to foreclose on the property because Hedrick was a scrapper and didn’t have any money to pay, she said. The county didn’t want the money as much as they wanted the property cleaned up.
In other business during the Commissioners meeting Tuesday, Kosciusko County Clerk Ann Torpy presented an order establishing precincts.
“As you know, last year we did our redistricting. This year, it’s city of Warsaw will be redistricting,” she said.
Warsaw Common Council President Jack Wilhite attended the Commissioners meeting in support of the change.
“What we’re doing is just changing some of the precincts within the city limits to match their city Common Council lines, which is traditionally how our precincts in the city of Warsaw go,” Torpy said.
The changes won’t take effect until Jan. 1, 2023. City elections are in 2023.
The Commissioners unanimously approved the order.
They also approved:
• A request by Kosciusko County Highway Superintendent Steve Moriarty to apply for a 100% reimbursable at-grade crossing grant. He said they’ve done three of these in the past. While he didn’t know the amount, it will be no more than $40,000 as that’s the cap limit on the grant. The grant, if received, will cover all the paint markings on the road that identify railroad crossings.
• A request by Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Shane Bucher to apply for a $20,000 Community Funds grant from the Kosciusko County Community Foundation. The grant dollars will be used to purchase new face masks, dive suits and miscellaneous other equipment for all of the dive team members. It is a reimbursement grant.
Bucher also reported the dive team was awarded a Kosciusko REMC grant for its dry diving suits last week.
• The 2023 county holiday calendar, as presented by Puckett. County holidays include Jan. 2, New Year’s Day; April 7, Good Friday; May 2, Election Day; May 29, Memorial Day; July 4, Independence Day; Sept. 4, Labor Day; Nov. 7, Election Day; Nov. 10, Veterans Day; Nov. 23 and 24, Thanksgiving break; Dec. 25 and 26, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day; and Jan. 1, 2024, New Year’s Day.
Employees also get one floating holiday from Jan. 1 to June 20 and one floating holiday from July 1 to Dec. 31.
