Homeowner Cleans Yard After Rebuke From City

The city wanted their yard cleaned up, and after a strong rebuke from hearing officer Larry Clifford, they complied.

Now Tom and Cathy Hutchinson, 421 W. Fort Wayne St., Warsaw, need to get their house in order - and that's proving to be a bit more difficult.

"The environmental violations (at the Hutchinsons' residence) have been corrected and they've done a very good job on that," said Pam Kennedy, city building inspector. "However, none of the building violations have been corrected and they haven't even applied for a permit to begin that work."

The Hutchinsons' house is in need of repairs to the foundation and other exterior repairs, Kennedy said.

Cathy Hutchinson acknowledged the structural repairs have not been started, but said that was because of their inability to find a licensed contractor willing to do the work.

"We can't get anyone to agree to do the work. They keep asking if this is the house that was in the paper the city was going after," she said. "Now, we can't get anyone to come out and do the work."

Kennedy told Clifford the Hutchinsons haven't contacted her office to notify her they were having problems obtaining a contractor to do the work, and referred Hutchinson to the Builders' Association of Kosciusko-Fulton Counties for a list of contractors who would be willing to do the repair work.

"We've never heard from them (the Hutchinsons) before that they were having problems getting the repair work done," Kennedy said. "But I'm sure if the contacted the builder's association, they could get a list of contractors who'll do the work."

In other business, Clifford ordered Wade Frauhiger, through his attorney, Mark Shear, to bring the occupancy level of his property at 1012 E. Winona Ave. into compliance with city code, and to have the necessary electrical and plumbing repairs completed by Oct. 4, or face a $1,000 civil penalty.

"The case originated in May of this year, when raw sewage was running down the street," Kennedy said. "A plumber has corrected the sewage problem, but we still have electrical code violations and a problem with over occupancy."

Kennedy said there are 10 adults living in the three-bedroom, one bath home.

"The tenants are in violation of the lease in terms of occupancy and we are working to get that situation resolved," Shear said.

Clifford also fined Alejandro Magos $1,000, effectively immediately, for failure to correct multiple code violations at 1837 Michael St.