City Board 5 March 2019: Zoning, NAFD and routine work

Zoning, including a heated objection about its enforcement in one instance, drew the most attention at the March 5 meeting of the New Albany Board of Aldermen.

Jenny King, owner of house at 702 Parrish St., during condemnation hearing. City Code Enforcement Officer Eric Thomas partially visible behind King.

The objections were lodged by Jenny King, owner of a house at 702 Parrish St. in southeast New Albany. During a scheduled hearing about condemning and destroying the structure, King accused city officials of treating her unfairly.

The house has not been occupied for many years. King acknowledged that the structure falls far short of meeting the minimal city requirements for dwellings to be suitable for human habitation. She said, however, that she had bought the house about two years ago intending to use it for storage, not to have it occupied by people.

The aldermen voted unanimously to condemn and demolish the house at 702 Parrish St.

Another zoning issue was more amicably resolved during Tuesday evening’s board meeting. As reported by NAnewsweb.com on January 8, 2019, the city had initiated condemnation action to demolish a large, 120-year-old warehouse building located at the rail yard just north of the city hall. The two-story building has a footprint of about 8000 square feet, and is constructed of several hundred thousand locally made red brick.

John Ellis, the building owner, told the city board Tuesday night that he agrees the old warehouse building is beyond repair, and said he will voluntarily demolish the structure. Ellis has already retained a contractor for the demolition.

Although no details are available, it appears Ellis’s plan anticipates that some of the historically hand-made brick could end up being used locally for appropriate work.

This 120 year old former warehouse building will be demolished.

In other business, New Albany Fire Department (NAFD) Chief Steve Coker received unanimous board approval to replenish the NAFD hiring pool. The board also authorized purchase of a $1,000 trailer to be used for hauling NAFD’s Ranger rescue vehicle when it is needed in rural Union County or distant locations within the city limits.

The board also did routine business including approving minutes of earlier meetings and payment of bills and claims.