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At the June 21 meeting with Councilman Bill Johnson, Diana arranged a follow-up meeting with Building Commissioner Claude Cooper to discuss 1603 Claremont Ave.
Winnie Cobb, Diana Presson, Tim Pfohl, Chris Sterling, and John Butcher met at Diana's house with Mr. Cooper and his new environmental inspector Dan Kreger. We had what the diplomats would call a "very positive meeting."
Mr. Cooper had a bundle of News, mostly good.
- 1603 Claremont owes over $500 on the water bill. The City has turned the water off and Mr. Cooper's folks have placarded the property. That means it's trespassing to be there. If you see anybody in the structure, please call 780-5100 and tell the dispatcher. If you see the placard missing from the front of the building, please call Code Enforcement and they'll replace it.
- Mr. Cooper has asked RRHA to estimate the cost of rehabilitating the exterior of the building (paint, gutters, roof) to something approaching normal condition for housing in the neighborhood. He expects the information next week.
- Mr. Cooper has been talking to the City Attorney's folks to see if he can get some help. Tentatively Ass't City Att'y Greg Lukanuski will be looking at the civil enforcement options.
Note added on August 18: We have the Bill of Complaint filed by Assistant City Attorney Lukanuski on August 6, 1999.
Mr. Cooper also had some thoughts about the difficulty of getting money from Council for this kind of problem and about the difficulties of spot blight abatement under the statute. We will not dwell here on the many barriers to progress: We are interested in, as our Councilman so aptly put it, "positive accomplishments."
By the way, here is the outcome from our latest Freedom of Information Act request: An environmental inspection on 3/16/99 disclosed no weed or vehicle problems. Another on 5/17/99 disclosed no weed or refuse problems. A third on 5/19/99 concluded that the "vehicle is not in violation. Nor is the wood and concrete in the rear." We hear that the car has an inspection sticker, albeit no tag.
More recently someone has moved the car inside the fence.
We will be following up with Mr. Cooper to see which of these leads pans out. Please stay with us until we can stop talking about the labor pains and show you the baby.
We told Mr. Cooper we are willing to work one problem at a time, but he might want to look at 1320 Avondale. The garage is open at both ends; sooner or later it will attract vermin - human or otherwise. The roof is sagging. We have no way to tell whether it is a serious hazard.
Winnie's homework assignment is to get a picture of Mr. Gomes, the owner at 1603, so we can tell the Patrol and the police what to be looking for.
We also had a chance to meet Dan Kreger, and start to build a positive working relationship. He seems like a nice, young fellow. If he turns out to be half as helpful as Mr. Treger he'll be a serious help in making Bellevue a better place.
Stop signs also are on the back burner until we see what happens at 1603. But if you would like to take them on as a parallel project, please call or email Pres. Chuck or Pres-to-be Tim Pfohl.
At the BCA General Meeting last Tuesday Ass't City Attorney Greg Lukanuski spoke about his suit to compel Tony Gomes and Barbara Bourne to repair their property. Lukanuski has found the elusive Mr. Gomes and is moving forward with the suit. Here is the email exchange that followed the meeting:
From: <johnrbutcher@ibm.net>
To: Gregory A. Lukanuski <glukanuski@ci.richmond.va.us>
Subject: Re: 1603 Claremont
Date: Wednesday, September 15, 1999 6:53 PM
Hmmm. Before he can live there he needs to do something about that capias.
Thanks for the info, and thanks for your help with this durable problem.
----- Original Message -----
From: Gregory A. Lukanuski <glukanuski@ci.richmond.va.us>
To: <johnrbutcher@ibm.net>
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 1999 4:35 PM
Subject: 1603 Claremont
> I got in touch with Tony Gomes this afternoon:
>
> - He has no interest in selling the property as he hopes to make it his
> home
>
> - He says he has hired a man to do some yard work and haul some material
> that has been dumped in the back, and that this man will start "when the
> weather breaks"
>
> - Finally, he says that siding work should start in 10-14 days.
>
> I will keep you informed.Note Added 11/99:
In November, Gomes or someone acting for him obtained a building code approval and started to install siding on the west end of the house, to wit:
Last updated 02/24/02
Please send questions or comments to John Butcher