By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Over the past several months, the city of Hoisington has been working with a pair of property owners to repair structures at 1229 N. Center Street and 408 E. First Street. With neither owner in attendance for Monday's city council meeting, the body voted 5-3 to seek bids to demolish the structure on First Street. Councilmember Carol Nather explained the reason.
"She's obviously not taking care of the yard," she said. "I don't see that she's taking care of anything. She's not making an effort. Basically, she's just trying to do what she has to do to get by. It's not passable."
The property, owned by Janet Hood, was deemed unfit or unsafe for living earlier this year. Hood asked for extensions on the repair in May and August, but Code Enforcement Officer Dolores Kipper said the front and back portions of the roof are still buckled. Effort has been made to paint part of the house and fix the porch, but as of Monday night, uncut vegetation in front of the home hid the porch. A cracked foundation was given as a major reason in the deciding vote.
The council also heard updates from Kipper on the property owned by Todd Westphal at 1229 N. Center Street. It was deemed unsafe in October 2022 and Westphal has requested extensions for repairs. The roof has been replaced but the property is still not connected to utilities, which is a violation of city code. Councilmember Darren Reinert said a vote on that property should be tabled.
Listen: Reinert and Councilmember Chris Smith debate action on the Westphal property.
"My opinion is this house is in better shape than a lot of other houses in this town, and we're overlooking those other houses to look at this one," he said. "We need to backpedal on this one a little bit and go after some that are in worse shape."
Westphal had agreed to be present at Monday's meeting. Action on his property was tabled until the next council meeting.