Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Condemnation: Council pushes ahead with demolition of Christopher's

After months of negotiations, the Prescott City Council has voted to proceed with the demolition of the former Christopher Oil building.

The building has been the subject of controversy over the past several months as members of the city council sought to condemn it and owners of the property sought to stop that process. At the September council meeting, council members approved the condemnation despite the objections, citing the fact that the property had been in disrepair for many years. At that meeting council members agreed that they would take no action until mid-August, giving the property owners one final chance to make significant progress toward cleaning up and restoring the property.

There has been a little bit of progress made there, said Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor during the Aug. 21 meeting.

Other council members said theyd observed the minor progress and with no additional discussion, the council voted unanimously to move ahead.

The condemnation of a house that burned on West Second Street months ago was also discussed. Taylor said the city has sought to make contact with the bank that owns a lien on the property, but has received no reply.

Taylor said that an additional property currently under condemnation, the Webb property, has been sold.

The council then heard from property owner James Barnes. Jamye Barnes spoke on James behalf and told the council that they have made plans to lease a one-third acre tract of land they own off Ron Harrod Drive to a sign company.

The problem, according to Barnes, is that Taylor, apparently on behalf of the city, has denied the request to have a culvert installed to provide access to the property. Barnes said the only reason for the culvert is so that the sign company will have access to the property, and that there will be no cost to the city. Barnes said that Taylor has denied that the Barnes own any property there.

We dont need a survey, Barnes said. If the city wants a survey, let them survey it.

City Attorney Glenn Vasser said the first step is to establish ownership.

I dont think we can answer that question without a survey, Vasser said.

Councilman James Cornelius said that he witnessed the fence line that would have served as a property line being torn down by the city.

Councilman Jerry Wilson said he believed the city should pay for the survey.

If the city (tore the fence down), the city ought to pay for it, Wilson said.

James Barnes said that he also had not been asked for an easement when the city placed sewer lines across that piece of property, but that he wasnt interested in making problems over that issue and simply wanted access.

Taylor agreed to contact a surveyor and to have the tract surveyed at the earliest possible date.

Before the end of the meeting, Gary Roe asked to address the council. Roe said that several people have asked him how the citys electric bills are figured. Roe asked if someone with the city would explain the process. Roe, an accountant and local business owner, pointed out that its been a year since the big flap over electric rates in the city, and said there still seems to be questions regarding the bills.

Taylor said he would ask City Electric Consultant Henry Thompson about the issue.

Thompson is slated to speak at the September board meeting to talk about the progress made toward changing the citys electric provider. The city-owned electric company purchases electricity from another company. The city is currently considering a contract with Swepco for that service. Earlier this year, Thompson said Swepco was basically the only viable option available to the city.

The September council meeting will be Sept. 17 at 5:30 p.m. at Prescott City Hall.