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Read comments (8)The McCook City Council unanimously authorized to convene the Board of Health concerning the property at 810 W. Fourth.
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A fire in 2004 damaged the exterior and interior of the house, he said, with debris and trash still left inside the residence.
McCook Police Chief Ike Brown said the police department and McCook building Inspector Fred Baugher made a physical assessment of the property and found numerous health and safety concerns, including structural damage to the roof, floors, and ceilings, food left in cupboards and accumulation of debris.
The owner of the property, Christopher Boley, attended the council meeting and told the council that he still wants to salvage the property but has been unable to clean up the contents due to recent shoulder surgery and his work schedule.
The police have received a number of calls from neighbors about the house, Brown said and neighbors attended a city council meeting last year about the condition of the residence.
Boley asked the council to allow him some additional time so he could clean up the property. Eventually, he would like to restore the residence, he said.
Councilman Jack Rogers pointed out that the house has been in this condition for four years now with no apparent effort to remedy the situation.
Boley answered that nothing has been done as the house was tied up in divorce proceedings and that he was awarded ownership of the house in 2007.
Councilman Colleen Grant questioned how much has been done since then and Boley answered that he plans to borrow a truck from a friend to remove the waste in the house.
Based on photographs taken of the residence, Councilman Grant wondered if the amount of refuse in the home could be removed by Boley alone.
Brown said the Property Resolution Team, that works with property owners in the city who have homes that pose a safety or health hazard, had contacted Boley months ago with no response. Despite Boley's good intentions and seemingly valid reasons, there has been no appreciable effort to clean up the property, Brown said.
Mayor Dennis Berry stated that although he's sympathetic to Boley's situation, the residence has been in violation of state and city ordinances for some time.
The council has a responsibility to Boley's neighbors who have had to live with the property for four years, Councilman Rogers added.
Councilman Aaron Kircher noted that city staff had taken the proper steps to work with Boley but that the situation is still not resolved.
Councilman Rogers called the vote and the council unanimously agreed to move the matter to the Board of Health. The council also approved to proceed with a Determination and Notice of Unsafe Buildings, that will be filed with the city clerk.
The Board of Health will review the facts, determine if the property is a safety and nuisance risk and give its recommendation back to the council. The owner of the property can appeal the board's decision.
Members of the McCook Board of Health are Brown, Mayor Berry, Fritsch, Mary Beth Eisenmenger and Dr. Richard Klug.
Thank you Mr. Wright. I hope you continue to point to the positive.
Before I sat down to compose this little remark, I had to remind myself that sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees!
I've lived in McCook less than a year, and it may be hard for some of you to believe, but we made our decision to move here not only because of an attractive job offer, but also because the people we met in the first 24 hours were very friendly and went out of their way to make us feel welcome!
When we arrived, our permanent residence wasn't ready yet, so we spent a good long time at The Chief...mere feet from the dreaded railroad tracks where there are apparently enough horns to inspire someone to make referrence to them on this message board. We spent nearly a month sleeping less than 100 feet from the tracks and I can count on one hand (with fingers left over) the number of times the trains were noisy. (for what it's worth; I don't drink)
The good people of McCook, at least those who have such a dim view of things, should spend some time in other communities of similar size. Where we came from, Priority #1 was tourism. More tax dollars were spent on attracting visitors, than were spent keeping the people who live & pay taxes there happy and contented. Sure, the "Welcome" signs were pretty and the new streetlamps were also, but drive more than 2 blocks off the main drag and you could find more blighted areas than there are here. I challenge you to find ANY city of ANY size in Nebraska or Kansas that doesn't have places where the weeds are too tall, or some empty buildings need torn down. McCook isn't unique in that regard.
All I'm saying is don't spend so much time being critical of the nit-picky things. My family and I have found McCook to be a wonderful community with warm, friendly people! We've lived on the other side of the fence, and the grass ISN'T any greener over there.
do you pay the taxes on the j street house
its a little late to save the town we have lost alot in town my family has been hear s 1930"s
this town was a good growing town what happend????????? it was not how it looks that we lost thangs you think that if we clean up the town that will make thangs ok ???
thare is good and bad in all towns
i will and have helped all in need do you help ???? a fraindley town is what we need to go back to not a snob town i can remember a time that nabers ,spelling bad sory talk to each other and help not complain and not help i can go on but i think i have made my point i don't care what pepole say ore do i will still help thats gods way we don't do drug's drink and thats what some pepole won't in this town not me
you need to look at the past on how this town was , thank and i will still defind the j house thay dont no what relley happend thanks god bless
I would love to know where the first response I put up to this story is!! It would be lovely if when a response is deemed "offensive" if there were a message sent to that "offensive response" author. I thought that we were to leave a response which was "on task" and that is what I did however it was apparently removed due to the "offensiveness". Maybe these people are correct, the city does need to start cleaning up it self before holding the residence accountable. I know of a house on J street which is a complete eye sore and if my memory serves me correctly they had previously been told to clean it up. The residence did "clean it up" to some degree however it is still an eye sore with the little camper, makeshift garden, and scribbled on sign staked into the front yard. Maybe the city needs to look in their own closets before calling out the residence of the city but the people need to take responsibility for their own property also, and not make ridiculous excuses as to why it can't be done!
I suggest that the city look at their selves before making waves with the towns folks. now here's the pot calling the kettle black. there are weeds on city property everywhere that need attention. lets start there for a neater and cleaner city first as an example for all who live in this coummunity. If the city wants to be neat and clean in apperance start with itself first and then go after those who dont follow suit. i know this city does the best it can but it would irk me to clean up my yard and the city didnt
If you really want to attract and keep people in McCook, you should start by quieting those idiotic train whistles blowing all night long.
i agree with the previous comment. not only are there ugly abandoned homes but homes with weeds taller than the law allows with nothing being done either.
we need to start taking more pride in the appearence of our community as a whole if we are expecting young people and old to be drawn to us, or to stay here!!
I'd like to know if the City plans on doing anything with the other houses in McCook that are abandoned. There are 2 on East 6th Street that are boarded up and complete eye sores to the community for more than 4 years. It's time the city starts to care about what the neighborhoods look like.