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Council outlines use of $50,000 in CDBG funds for prioritized demolitions, seeks lien approach to recover costs
Summary
Council authorized city staff to use $50,000 in unallocated CDBG funds to help demolish prioritized substandard residential buildings and discussed filing liens to recover costs when properties are later sold; staff said in-house demolition reduces labor costs and landfill disposal is the primary expense (~$10,000 per home).
City staff told the council they would use $50,000 in unallocated Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds to address prioritized substandard residential buildings. Staff described an internal prioritization list that ranks properties by safety risk, calls for service, and proximity to schools. The demolition approach favors in‑house work to minimize labor expense, with landfill disposal estimated at about $10,000 per residential home; staff estimated the $50,000 would cover roughly five demolitions' disposal fees.
Council members debated whether to place liens on properties when the city pays for demolition to replenish the funding pool. Staff and the community development manager noted that liens can take many years to be realized because they are collected typically at sale; they recommended using CDBG funds for residential demolitions while placing liens to document the expense and potentially recover program income later. Council deferred one order to the next meeting to give staff and a property owner time to discuss timelines and options. "Each of these houses, by the city doing it in house, we're essentially foregoing the labor cost part of it...the landfill disposal fees...are about $10,000 per residential home," staff said.
