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Hot Springs board moves on three property-condemnation matters; one hearing tabled to allow ownership clarification
Summary
The Hot Springs Board adopted resolutions declaring structures at 108 Bess Street and 122 Gardiner Street nuisances and condemning them for repairs or removal; a third case at 302 Lincoln Street was tabled for 60 days while heirs and title issues are resolved.
The Hot Springs City Board of Directors on June 17 adopted resolutions to condemn two vacant residential structures as nuisances and tabled a third while ownership issues are clarified.
Chief Building Official Mike Scott presented staff recommendations. For 108 Bess Street, staff recommended condemnation to remove a damaged and collapsing carport roof, replace decking and roofing, and repair soffit and fascia. Scott said a limited title search showed Bernadine Harden of Rogers, Arkansas, as the owner on record; staff said repairs and administrative fees would be placed as a lien on the property following the work. The board adopted Resolution R-25-122 to proceed.
For 122 Gardiner Street, staff reported extensive structural and foundation damage and delinquent taxes of $1,387.97; the record listed owner Danny Roy McDonald and, according to staff, the property had been certified to the state and scheduled for auction in 2026. Scott said the structure posed a public health and safety risk and recommended it be raised and removed; the board adopted Resolution R-25-123.
A third case, 302 Lincoln Street, arose from fire damage in September 2024. Scott said county records listed late Denver Woodfork and Tommy Woodfork as owners and that taxes on the property were delinquent in the amount of $1,284.87 and certified to the state for auction in 2026. Tommy Woodfork appeared at the meeting to explain that an estate process begun after his parents’ deaths stalled and that he had tried to obtain a permit to demolish the house himself but was denied because the title remained in the estate and because of liens on other properties in his family’s records.
Woodfork told the board he was willing to perform the demolition himself but could not receive a permit until title issues were resolved. City staff explained that issuing a permit to someone other than the legal title holder presents a legal issue and that the city intended to proceed after statutory notice and appeal periods. Given the circumstances and the claim that the estate had stalled, Director Dudley Webb moved to table the 302 Lincoln Street item for four meetings (about 60 days) to allow time to resolve title concerns; the board approved the motion.
Scott said that for properties proceeding with condemnation, the city would request contractor bids and perform necessary repairs or removal, with costs placed as liens on the properties and recorded with the Garland County Circuit Clerk’s office.
Speakers quoted in this article spoke at the June 17, 2025 Hot Springs City Board of Directors meeting.
