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  • Katherine Harvey will have more time to make court-ordered repairs at her house at 337 and 343 W. Siixth St. in Anderson Aaron Piper

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July 29, 2010

Cat lover gets more time to make home repairs

By Dave Stafford The Herald Bulletin

ANDERSON, Ind. — A woman who the city has ordered to stop feeding feral cats received more time on Thursday to consider city-ordered repairs on two homes where the animals have become a neighborhood nuisance.

Katherine Harvey owns or has power of attorney for homes at 337 and 343 W. Sixth St. City inspectors have told the Anderson Board of Public Safety that both houses were uninhabitable and needed to be torn down.

“If I can just bring it up to minimum legal standards, I hope to keep it standing,” Harvey said of the house at 337 W. Sixth.

Building Commissioner Michael Widing said the building needed new wiring, extensive structural repair and would have to be gutted due to mold. He estimated repairs costing more than $76,000.

City estimates of needed repairs to the house at 343 W. Sixth exceed $52,000. Harvey took exception to the estimates, and board members said that if she could make needed repairs for less, she would be allowed to do so as long as city officials approve the work first.

“This has caused me more duress than you can possibly imagine,” Harvey told board members after they grilled her about work that would have to be done on the houses.

The board gave Harvey until its Sept. 2 meeting to come up with a plan of action to bring the buildings up to code.

Brandon Jaqua, who lives in the house between those for which Harvey is responsible, said he wished the board had not given the extra time. He said he and others in the neighborhood have lived with nuisance animals from the properties for too long.

Board president Dick Wiley said the board grants extra time in fairness when owners express a desire to do what they can to bring their properties into compliance with codes.

The board also Thursday gave Duncan Sawyer extra time to evaluate possible repairs to a home he owns at 726 W. 24th St. That house was facing an emergency demolition order, but the board gave Sawyer until its meeting on Aug. 19 to address a wide range of code violations that Widing said make the house beyond salvaging.

Also Thursday, the board approved low bids for demolition contracts on two condemned homes. Jerry’s Construction will tear down a house at 1325 W. 14th St. That job will cost $5,950. A house at 224 W. Sixth St. will be torn down for $12,400 by Pritchett’s Backhoe.

Contact Dave Stafford: 648-4250, dave.stafford@heraldbulletin.com

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