Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

City to raze Christopher Oil Property

The Prescott City Council have voted to move forward with the demolition of the Christopher Oil Company building.

The action came during the councils December meeting, which was brief with little business to attend.

The building was condemned months ago but the actual demolition has been put on hold pending notification of a Texarkana bank that reportedly holds a lien on the property. Representatives of the Christopher family have repeatedly asked for more time to complete repairs and clean up around the building, which has typically been granted. Earlier this year, council members set a deadline. That time has passed but no action has been taken because of the lien.

At the December meeting, Prescott City Attorney Glenn Vasser said he has received no reply from the lien holder and that the city was within their rights to raze the building. He said if they want to move forward, the only question is what action they want to take.

Decide whether you want to use a city crew or what you want to do, Vasser said.

Council members said that if there is no doubt of the legality, its time to move forward.

Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor said there have been two companies interested in tearing the building down with the agreement that they have the bricks recovered.

Chestnut Street was also discussed briefly as Councilman Jerry Wilson said the road is in deplorable condition. Wilson said the holes in the road are getting deep, and said it should be a priority.

Council members were also given a copy of the budget for the coming year though no action was taken. The budget is slated for discussion during the January meeting.