T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY - Members of the Marshalltown city council along with Mayor Joel Greer and City Administrator Carol Webb engage in a discussion on a proposed demolition contract for six city-owned residential properties during Monday night’s meeting. The council voted 4-3 against awarding the contract.

By a 4-3 vote, the Marshalltown city council voted against awarding a $135,450 contract to Lansing Brothers Construction Company for the demolition of six dilapidated residential properties currently owned by the city during Monday night’s meeting.

Last March, the council had voted unanimously to proceed with tearing down four of the six, which are located at 501 N. 1st Ave., 704 Lee St., 915 S. Center St. and 919 S. Center St. Also included in the proposed contract presented on Monday night with Lansing Brothers, an outfit based in the eastern Iowa community of Luxemburg, were 307 N. 13th Ave. and 908 S. 9th Ave.

During a discussion last March, the council had initially agreed to proceed with demolishing all of the homes, including this one at 501 N. 1st Ave., before reversing course during Monday night’s meeting and opting against awarding the contract to Lansing Brothers Construction Company.

As the discussion kicked off, Councilor Greg Nichols said he would vote against the resolution after speaking with a builder in town who believed the house at 501 N. 1st Ave. could be renovated because it had “good bones,” and the interested party claimed he would have everything cleaned up around the outside within 30 days and ready for inspection within six months.

“Rather than us spending $24,000 to demolish it, I would just as soon keep another property and have it come back on the tax rolls actually having value instead of a vacant lot,” Nichols said.

Councilor Gary Thompson asked City Administrator Carol Webb about interest in the other properties, and she said there was interest in at least three of them with someone willing to demolish the South Center Street properties and turn them into commercial developments. Webb brought the council up to speed on the previous discussion about demolishing the properties, and in response to a question from Councilor Mike Ladehoff, Webb invited Assistant Housing and Community Development Director Clayton Ender to the podium to discuss the inspection reports on each property — only one of which, 915 S. Center St., was deemed salvageable.

At the 1st Avenue residence, Ender noted areas where one could see through the foundation, water damage, holes in the roof, and a structurally failing garage leaning against a tree. He also detailed issues at 919 S. Center St. while offering to provide specifics on the others.

Councilor Jeff Schneider felt it was important to “keep this train rolling” on cleaning up the town and not letting the properties fall further into decay. Thompson wondered about the possibility of putting the properties back out for bid and placing tight time constraints on the buyers to allow the city to retake possession if they do not fulfill their promises to take swift action on them.

Webb responded that it would certainly be legal, and if the properties were demolished as outlined in the contract, the council could attach similar stipulations to anyone interested in buying the vacant lots. Councilor Melisa Fonseca asked about whether the properties could be listed to see what they would sell for and whether they had ever been marketed.

Webb told Fonseca she was operating under the current direction she had received regarding demolishing the properties and would need “new direction” going forward, adding that she wasn’t sure how she would feel about listing properties that building inspectors have recommended demolishing.

Even with no water running, electricity shut off, no plumbing and broken windows, Fonseca said those homes still do sell on the open market. Councilor Barry Kell agreed with Schneider’s assessment, citing a later discussion about Ender’s discovery of at least 190 properties with maintenance issues in the city.

“We have these in front of us that we know that all but one are beyond salvageable. I think we would be talking out of both sides of our mouth to go after other property owners condemning their property maintenance and yet helping perpetuate this problem,” Kell said. “These properties didn’t turn to this condition overnight. They’ve been problematic in these neighborhoods for quite some time, so I would support moving forward as the resolution outlines.”

Ladehoff, a north side resident, said his thoughts would be with the neighbors who have been forced to live next to the properties for a long time, and he spoke of receiving frequent phone calls wondering when certain dilapidated homes would be knocked down in his ward.

“I don’t think we need to wait any longer. I think we need to just go and take them all out,” he said. “Let’s get them out of there and clean up the neighborhood.”

During the public comment period, Marco Yepez Gomez recalled a previous council discussion about concerns with selling vacant city-owned lots for next to nothing and wondered about adding stipulations to such bids now that a housing and community development director is in place. Mayor Joel Greer then called the roll, and Fonseca, Mitchell, Nichols and Thompson voted no while Kell, Ladehoff and Schneider voted in favor.

Webb then asked about bringing the item back for a future discussion, and Greer suggested not spending a whole lot of time on it other than gauging the interest of developers to provide any sort of concrete proposal. Nichols advocated for tight contract constraints and timelines with the ability for the city to take the properties back if those guidelines are not followed, and Webb said she could issue Requests for Proposals (RFPs) from interested developers.

“We trust you to figure out the best way to navigate it. I just would hate to have another six months go by,” Greer said.

Kell then suggested more specifically developing the guidance and requirements.

“We have people that drove by in their cars and said ‘Oh, that’s salvageable.’ The best I know, no one’s been inside these properties,” he said. “If we’re gonna go down this path, we need to set clear stipulations on what’s expected. Otherwise we’re just perpetuating the problem in these neighborhoods.”

The mayor complimented Ender on his work thus far and felt he could be enlisted to assist in that process.

In other business, the council:

Approved the consent agenda as listed.

Approved a resolution for setting the public hearing for the five-year capital improvement plan for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2025-2029.

Approved a resolution declaring the Marshalltown Public Library’s Bookmobile or MOBI surplus property and authorizing its sale and disposal.

Held a standalone tax levy hearing before the regular meeting with no public comments.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.