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Craig Holman, center, testifies in the Municipal Court of New Cordell during an Oct. 14, 2019, hearing. Holman’s attorney, Avery Eeds sits left with Cordell city attorney Johnny Beech on the right. Bob Henline | The Cordell Beacon -
The interior of 106 S College Street, as visible through the missing roof from the back steps of the neigboring building. Bob Henline | The Cordell Beacon
Craig Holman, the former owner of the dilapidated building located at 106 S. College Street in Cordell who was fined more than $1,800 earlier this month in Cordell’s city court, has filed a notice of appeal in Washita County District Court.
Holman was fined a total of $1,890 by city judge Jimmy HInes - $1,820 for the ongoing nuisance and $70 for court costs - for failing to abate the public nuisance created by the dilapidated building, with an additioanl $25 per day being added to the fine until such time as the nuisance is properly abated.
The notice does not include the basis of the appeal, but Holman argued in court he was not responsible for the building because he no longer owns it. He told the judge that his late wife owned the building and purchased it through her company, Omega 1 Wire Less LLC, which is now defunct and in which he had no interest.
Cordell city attorney Johnny Beech brought into evidence a check drawn on an Omega 1 Wire Less account for $15,500, written and signed by Holman, to Jimmie D. Mosier, for the purchase of the property. Holman testified in city court that he had check writing authority for the company, but had no other financial or ownership interest, and that he had written the check at the request of his wife.
Oklahoma Corporation Commission records, however, show Omega 1 Wire Less LLC was formed July 16, 2008, with Craig Holman listed as the registered agent for the LLC. The record also shows the now-defunct company was registered at 106 S. Collge in Cordell - the address of the dilapidated property in question.
Holman also argued that he could not be held responsible for the condition of the buildling, as he was no longer the legal owner. He transferred title in accordance with the wishes of his late wife, he said, to Garay Syverson, a resident of Anderson, Indiana.
Beech argued Holman was legally responsible for the nuisance as a former owner who had failed to abate what he labeled a “continuing nuisance,” according to Oklahoma Code, Title 50, Section 505.
“Every successive owner of property who neglects to abate a continuing nuisance upon, or in the use of such property created by a former owner, is liable therefor in the same manner as the one who first created it.”
The notice of appeal was filed Oct. 24, 2019, in Washita County District Court. No further action on the case has been recorded as of press time.