The battle over the duplex at 212 and 214 E. Sixth St. has finally come to a conclusion.
It's one that should make the troubled property's neighbors happy, City Administrator Bill Johnson said.
"We made the decision just to purchase the property and eliminate the situation," Johnson said Wednesday. "I'm confident the neighbors and the community will appreciate not having the property in its current condition."
During Tuesday evening's Fulton City Council meeting, council members voted on two agenda items related to the situation. The first, Resolution 3364, allowed Fulton Mayor Lowe Cannell to sign legal documents settling litigation with property owner Daniel Nash.
"This has been an ongoing nightmare," Cannell said.
The second, Bill 1573, authorized Cannell to convey the property to River Valley Properties (owned by Kent Glover, who also owns contractor GloveCon).
Dispute
Johnson said the city has been tangled in a dispute with Nash over the property's condition for at least two years. The house - half-painted and with a yard full of junked vehicles and appliances - has been the subject of numerous resident complaints. In November 2018, it caught fire due to faulty wiring.
And that's just the property. One neighbor claimed Nash burned trash regularly, exacerbating his daughter's asthma.
In early July 2017, Nash was arrested for threatening someone with an ax during a verbal dispute; he fled and barricaded himself inside the residence. He was arrested again just over a week later, this time for attempting to run over a neighbor with a car.
In late October 2017, the city sent a "Notice to Vacate" to Nash, notifying him his property violated property code and constituted an unsafe nuisance. It cited a number of issues and ordered Nash to vacate the property and fix the issues.
He did not do so.
Following a back-and-forth in the Callaway County Courthouse, the court agreed Nash's property constituted a nuisance on a number of fronts, from wiring issues to blocked-up exits. The court also agreed the city's order Nash vacate and address the conditions was based on substantial evidence and was fair.
However, Judge Jeff Harris found conditions on Nash's property do not justify demolition of the structure. According to the court order, Nash had until Jan. 1, 2020, to either abate the nuisances or vacate the structure, along with any other occupants of the house.
"Those repairs have not been made," Johnson said Tuesday - even after more than a dozen city workers pitched in to clean up the property's exterior in September.
Solution
As 2019 drew to a close, the city faced several options.
"We evaluated the situation and discussed - we had the choice of either purchasing the property or going back to court," Johnson said. "The court could've taken six months or more and cost a lot of money in legal fees. And we don't know what the outcome would've been."
He pointed out the court's last order to Nash was never fulfilled.
"In order to bring the entire situation to a close, the city made Nash an offer of $21,000 to purchase the property," Johnson said.
Nash accepted and has since vacated the building, Johnson said. Nash could not be located for comment.
The city has offered GloveCon, which neighbors the property, a chance to buy the lot for about $9,000. Though the city might be losing money, they at least won't have to pay to demolish the house, Johnson said.
"If we get it bought, we'll probably tear it down," said Josh Glover, project manager at GloveCon. "We bought the old Ford building and are moving our office out to there, but on the chance we decide to rent or sell (the Sixth Street building), odds are it'll be easier to do something with if we (do something with the property next door)."
He said the company's floated the idea of building a rental house on the property.
"There are several houses on this street they've fixed up real nice - it's really not a bad neighborhood," he said.
Glover added GloveCon's employees have felt "relief" at the saga's conclusion.
"These past three days, there's not an RV blocking our drive, no people screaming and yelling, no strange cars coming and going all day," he said. "I think it's going to be good for the street and the neighbors."