ROCKINGHAM — A dilapidated house will soon be coming down, following the approval of a demolition ordinance by the Richmond County Board of Commissioners.
County Planning Director Tracy Parris presented photos of the house at 692 Cartledge Creek Road, showing holes in the roof and collapsing porch.
Parris said the stairs “are so rickety that I’m unable to even take a picture inside of the house.”
“We’ve gone through the motions on this — issued the complaint, the finding of facts — and now we’re at the point I’d like to tear it down,” Parris said.
According to the ordinance, a hearing was held April 1 and the homeowner “was given reasonable opportunity” to bring the building up to code or demolish it. Action was supposed to be taken by July 7.
Costs associated with the demolition will constitute a lien on the property, the ordinance reads.
The city of Rockingham has used similar ordinances for years on properties within its jurisdiction.
In some cases, the government body can save money on demolition by letting fire departments burn the houses for training.
The next agenda item approved by commissioners was an agreement with LKC Engineering to serve as the firm for future water system projects.
According to Public Works Director Jerry Austin, those projects are: for about four miles of 20-inch water line at the Amazon Web Services site on Airport Road; a 1 million-gallon storage tank across from the Richmond County Airport; and two booster pump stations, one in Cordova and the other on Airport Road.
The contract does not appear in the agenda packet posted to the county’s website.
Austin said the county should be bidding out the projects within the next two months.
The county has a history with LKC, Austin said, including two shell buildings, a water line extension. The company is also currently working on both a water line and sewer line project.
LKC recently completed the first phase of the Amazon sewer line project and phase two is expected to start soon, Austin added.
Later in the meeting, the board approved the sale of a county-owned building on Bridges Street in Hamlet to Back Pack Pals.
County Manager Bryan Land said the organization is wanting to make upgrades to the building, including a new metal roof — but are unable to get grant funding due to ownership.
Land said the county is working on a deal to sell the building for $1, allowing Back Pack Pals to apply for grants “to spruce up the building.” He also clarified that there are stipulations included in the deal that the organization can’t use the property as collateral for loans and that the county would be able to buy the building back at the same price.
“It’s a well-established program that the community has supported for quite a long time,” Commissioner Justin Dawkins said.
“They do wonderful work in feeding our kids, making sure they’re fed in the summer and over the weekends, so it is extremely worthwhile for all the children in Richmond County if they need access to that,” said Commissioner Dr. Rick Watkins.
The board also approved recommendations from Rockingham for Jamie Lambeth and Alan Anderson to be reappointed to the ETJ seats for the city’s Planning and Zoning Board.
