Noting the two dilapidated trailer houses went beyond being eyesores, the Great Bend City Council Monday night declared the structures at 417 and 422 Walnut Street as “unsafe and dangerous.”
A public hearing was set for 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 19, at the council meeting, to determine the fate of the run-down homes.
Both houses are now vacant, but both had been the scene of drug raids, Code Enforcement Officer Stuart Baker said.
One even had an hole in the floor and a make-shift sewer system.
With the 417 Walnut St. home: The skirting is partially missing; there are windows broken and several windows boarded up; the home is not secured and is an visual nuisance; and the home is vacant and there is no gas or electricity.
Baker said city officials have been unable to contact the owners of the trailer, who are apparently trying to avoid prosecution. The land is rented from a Great Bend individual who is not involved in the legal matters. So, Baker recommended the city raze the home so the lot owners won’t get dragged into the mess. The council agreed.
As for 422 Walnut St.: Skirting is missing in places on the north and south sides of the mobile home; there is a broken window on the south side and an electric water heater hooked up on the outside of the mobile home and not the inside as required; and electricity and water which were being used at the mobile home were being obtained illegally after utilities had been shut off.
In addition, there is a pit underneath the trailer where sewage is being held and a sump pump is used to transfer the sewer water to the empty lot south of the mobile home.
Baker said the property has been abated by the city once and was raided by authorities last August. There had also been several video cameras set up on the trailer’s exterior, but those have been removed.
No contact has been made with the owners of this structure.
At the hearing any owner, agent of any owner, any lienholder of record or any occupant may appear and show cause why the structures should not be condemned and ordered demolished or repaired. Prior to the hearing, the resolution shall be published once each week for two consecutive weeks and a copy shall be mailed within three days after its first publication to each owner, agent, lienholder and occupant at the last known address.