West Terre Haute debates handing condemned properties to redevelopment and recouping demolition costs; vote unclear

What happened

On an item to move town-held properties over to redevelopment, a councillor asked that the town put liens (legal claims for unpaid costs) on the properties to recover its staff pay, court costs, attorney fees, equipment and gas used to tear them down. 22:39 A speaker defending redevelopment said it has done about $150,000 of demolition work for roughly $8,000 of its own money. 33:03 The town attorney said having redevelopment pay half the wages of town workers would likely need a formal agreement between the two and could raise State Board of Accounts concerns. 31:07 A councillor asked whether redevelopment should report at town meetings, and speakers said someone could attend. 35:04 A motion to approve was made and seconded, but the vote call was confused. 36:14

The outcome

A motion to approve was made and seconded; the chair called "all in favor" and then asked whether members had voted, and the recording does not show a clear result. 36:20

Sources

• Liens and town costs, 22:39
• Attorney on cost sharing, 31:07
• Redevelopment's work, 33:03
• Redevelopment reports, 35:04
• Motion and unclear vote, 36:14

Also known as: condemned houses · tearing down unsafe buildings · unsafe building liens · redevelopment commission West Terre Haute · blighted property