WARREN Officials favor razing houses

Dozens of houses have been condemned, but there isn't money to do the work.
& lt;a href=mailto:dick@vindy.com & gt;By DENISE DICK & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Some council members think demolitions of condemned buildings should be a priority in the 2004 budget.
Councilman Alford L. Novak, D-2nd, advocates a plan that will devote more money to housing demolitions as well as address vacant properties before they become dilapidated.
More than 70 houses in the city have been condemned, but there isn't money to do it. Problems arise because it's difficult to get owners to pay demolition costs and sometimes an owner can't be located.
Some houses that people vacate could be sold if vandals and thieves could be kept out and prevented from damaging and looting fixtures and other items from the inside. Particle boards nailed over broken windows don't do the job, the councilman said.
"We need something more extensive," Novak said.
Issue of funds
Some dilapidated homes are addressed using community development block grant funds, but Novak wants to add money from the general fund to the cause.
He plans to call a meeting of council's engineering, planning and building committee, which he chairs, to talk about a plan.
Chris Taneyhill, chief building official, has some ideas he plans to propose to council members for addressing demolitions but declined to talk about them until something is finalized.
Councilman Robert A. Marchese, D-at large, another engineering, planning and building committee member, supports Novak's idea.
"We need to put as much money as we possibly can into demolitions and property maintenance code," he said.
Marchese has a particular beef with landlords who don't maintain their rental properties.
"My dream is that we squeeze the throats of slumlords so bad that they scream to send lawyers, guns and money," he said.
It's time to go after people who allow their property to fall into disrepair, Marchese said, pointing to Porter Street as an example.
"We're not a Third World country," he said. "That's no way for people to act."
Enforcing maintenance
Whether the property owner is a large out-of-state financial institution or a local taxpayer, property maintenance should be enforced, Marchese said.
Some have advocated making it a criminal offense not to comply with a demolition order. Right now, if an owner doesn't comply, the city demolishes the house and the cost is added to the owner's property taxes.
Councilman Robert Holmes III, D-4th, also believes more attention and more money must be paid to housing demolition. He favors a requirement that owners whose properties don't meet code be required to post a bond with the city to make repairs.
If after six months, the work hasn't been done, the property owner forfeits the money to the city.
"I think since we have this abundance of money this year, we should be able to give a couple hundred thousand dollars to let him [Taneyhill] tear those houses down," Holmes said, referring to the roughly $2 million carry-over from the 2003 budget.
denise. & lt;a href=mailto:dick@vindy.com & gt;dick@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;