Council To Step Up Pressure On Owner Of Dilapidated Building

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  • Cordell City Councilman James Newman Beacon File Photo
    Cordell City Councilman James Newman Beacon File Photo
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The New Cordell City Council deferred taking any formal action with regard to the dilapidated building at 106 S. College Street in Cordell during their regular meeting Monday, Aug. 5, 2019. The council instead instructed city administrator J.C. Moser to look into the possibility of coordinating with other agencies in order to spur action on the derelict property.

City attorney Johnny Beech told the assembled council members they had essentially two options, to do nothing or to file suit to declare the property a public nuisance and begin the process of condemnation. Beech suggested the council empower Mayor Jerry Beech and council president Steve McLaughlin to work with him begin the legal process.

City councilman James Newman expressed his concern with those options, primarily due to the acceptance of liability and expense on the part of the city. He said that while he is sympathetic to the plight of the property owners and tenants on either side of the derelict property, he was not comfortable taking on the expense of cleaning up a private landowner’s problem at the expense of city residents, nor was he comfortable assuming the potential liability for the city either performing or contracting the work.

In the end the council tabled formal action on the property and instructed city administrator J.C. Moser to discuss the matter with the health department and with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality to determine what steps should be taken.

Moser indicated that once the city issues a ticket for creating a public nuisance, fines against the property owner are accrued on a daily basis.