Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Planning & Development Services
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TO: |
David L. Corliss, City Manager
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FROM: |
Brian Jimenez, Code Enforcement Manager
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CC: |
Scott McCullough, Director Planning and Development Services
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Date: |
March 16, 2009
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RE: |
617 W 4th St; Update on progress of rehabilitation
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The following is a chronological summary of recent events regarding the progress of the rehabilitation of the property.
On February 27th, staff received a phone call from Mike Downs (Contractor) advising he had not been paid for the first phase of the project therefore he was stopping all work until there was a resolution for payment of his services. On this date, staff made contact with Daryl Graves and was advised that he had been attempting to reach Jeanette Denton for several days as he was aware Mike had yet to be paid for the work that had been completed.
On March 2nd, Daryl informed staff he had reached Jeanette and they would like to meet with staff on March 6th at his office to discuss the issue at hand.
On March 5th, staff was advised by Scott Wagner, Management Analyst for Legal Services that Jeanette had recently agreed to an acquisition by the City for permanent sanitary sewer easements for two properties she owned with her sister located at 3100 Yellowstone Drive and 2400 Atchison Avenue. Jeanette and Norma Jantz (sister) accepted the appraised offer of $17,759 and have executed the required sanitary sewer easement documents. This item has been placed on the March 24th City Commission consent agenda for approval.
On March 6th, staff met with Jeanette and Daryl to discuss the problems that have arisen regarding lack of payment for work performed. Daryl stated he was working with Jeanette to sell 3 properties and that he had received written offers for the properties totaling $80,000. In addition to those possible transactions, Daryl stated Jeanette would be paying Mike $15,000 to $20,000 within a week for work completed and the purchasing of materials required for the next phase of the rehabilitation. Daryl further stated the easement acquisition money would be paid to Mike for future labor and material costs.
On March 12th, Daryl stated Jeanette would be meeting with Mike the following day and would be paying him $16,000 for labor and material costs.
On March 16th, staff spoke with Mike Downs. He met with Jeanette on March 13th and was paid for all labor costs to date and was provided an additional $6,000 for materials that needed to be purchased to begin the next phase of the project. Additionally, the tree removal company that removed all trees near the structure had been paid for their services.
Mike stated he is still very committed to completing the rehabilitation of the structure. He advised he would be back on the job the morning of March 18th and anticipated the foundation work and roof repair to be completed in the near future. Mike estimates once he receives the additional funds from the easement acquisition he will be able to work for the next month constructing the front porch, replacing all deteriorated flooring and roofing and replacing the HVAC and electrical systems.
On March 18th, staff verified Mike and his employees were on site working on the foundation repair. Staff spoke with Jeanette who was on the site and confirmed she would be paying Mike additional funds for future labor and materials costs next week and was working on securing additional funding as she was in the process of selling two properties.