By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
Bucyrus Law Director Rob Ratliff’s property violation letters may have caught a lot of flak, but one letter is seeing results at a home that was brought to the attention of the City Council in August.
The City Council heard from a few neighbors about a neglected property on Dudley Street during its Aug. 16 meeting. Kenneth Lacey, owner of 450 Dudley St., received a letter on Aug. 26 that stated he was in violation of the city’s property maintenance code and on Sept. 29 he submitted a completed application for an appeal to the Bucyrus City Board of Building Standards and Appeals.
Lacey pleaded his case before the board Tuesday afternoon, noting that he has a dumpster at his residence as they work to clean up the place. He asked the board for a time extension while he continued work on the property and prepared an application for a Crawford County Community Housing and Impact Preservation (CHIP) grant.
Lacey admitted that his garage roof was extensively rotted and hoped to put a tarp over it while he awaited news from the CHIP grant.
“He has gotten quite a bit cleaned up from the initial time that notice was sent,” noted Code Officer John Rostash.
“Our only income is a reduced social security that my wife and I get, which isn’t that much,” Lacey admitted. “We’ve had a pretty rough way to go on it. We’re trying to do our best.”
Though Rostash recognized the work that has been done, he cautioned Lacey that any infestation problem will have to be taken care of before contractors would be willing to work in the property. Lacey assured Rostash that he is working on the problem himself.
“If he’s making improvements and going in the right direction, I can be patient with that,” board member Floyd Farmer said.
The board passed a motion that would have Rostash present them with a progress report on Lacey’s property after 90 days and another that would have a letter drafted to the CHIP program in support of Lacey for the project.
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