In a textbook definition of a “win-win situation,” neighbors of a home on Craig Drive in Cedar Hill will see a chronic eyesore cleaned up, and it will cost Jefferson County taxpayers the low, low cost of $1 to do it.
The Jefferson County Council voted 6-0 Jan. 28 to award a $1 contract to Checkered Flag Excavation in De Soto to clean up debris at 6450 Craig Drive.
Checkered Flag was the lowest of five bidders. The other bids ranged from $620 to $18,000 for the job.
“There’s two things that make this situation unique,” said County Services Director Eric Larson. “One is that the individual who owned the property (Dennis Volz) is deceased and there is no family we know of who we can deal with.
“This is probably land that will end up to be a trustee property (that the county takes title to and sells to the highest bidder) and we would have to clean it up eventually. We’re just getting a jump on it.
“The other is that we have a contractor who feels they can break even or even make money on selling the items they take off the property, so the county is not having to pay anything. Well, $1.”
In a typical condemnation case, if a landowner is unable or unwilling to clean up or remove a dangerous building, after the county gets the legal authority from a judge, it pays a contractor to do the work and then places a lien against the property. When the land is sold, the county is repaid for the work.
Larson said the property on Craig Road has nine or 10 vehicles in the front yard.
“Not in a driveway, just in the front yard,” he said.
The property also is scattered with all kinds of other debris, Larson said.
“We had tried to work with this individual for some time, and made no progress, so we ended up taking it to court as a public nuisance. He never showed up to court,” Larson said. “At some point, he passed away.
“To our knowledge, this was his parents’ property and he wasn’t even living there; he was just using it for storage. We had several complaints from neighbors. I guess you could say this was the worst place in the neighborhood.”
Jefferson County tax records indicate that Dennis and Florence Volz owned the 0.93-acre site, but Larson said he believed the couple divorced years ago.
He said the home on the property, while not in the best of shape, was not in a condition where county inspectors felt it needed to be condemned and torn down. He said the contract does not call for Checkered Flag workers to remove anything from the home.
“I think you’ll see us do more of these types of condemnations in the future, where we’re not necessarily tearing down a burned-out building but cleaning up obvious cases of public nuisances,” Larson said.
Council member Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) abstained from the vote on the consent agenda, which included 14 items in addition to the contract with Checkered Flag Excavation.