Goshen house owner given another 30 days to comply

Sep. 28—GOSHEN — A Goshen house owner who lives in Virginia was given a 30-day extension to comply with the demands of the Goshen Board of Public Safety or receivership proceedings will begin.

The homeowner, Jeanne Brunk, Bealeton, Virginia, has already had several items repaired in the home, located at 1001 S. Eighth St., but has not cleaned it out as she has been traveling between Goshen and her home trying to sort out what to keep and what to dispose of during the past year to year and a half. Also, a couple of the repairs were done without inspections and apparently permits.

Travis Eash of the Goshen Building Department told the Board of Safety that he inspected the home Monday morning and some repairs have been made but not all of them. He added that the home was supposed to be sold in August but that fell through. The owner does not have a Realtor on record, he said.

Eash told the board he does not believe Brunk has any intention of selling the property or of completely repairing it and asked that he be allowed to refer the matter to legal to begin receivership proceedings. In receivership, the city would take charge of repairs and cleaning up the property. A lien would then be placed on the property until the homeowner pays off the debt or other arrangements are made.

Brunk's attorney, Bill Davis, walked Eash and Brunk through each of the violations cited in the original August 2021 report during their testimony to the board. The violations included: cracks in the ceilings and walls; a ceiling collapsed inside the door on the east side of the home from a significant roof leak; the floor inside the door on the east of the structure is severely water damaged and will not hold the proper load required; the foundation is cracked and there are large holes allowing rodents to enter and it is not weather tight; there is chipping, peeling and flaking paint throughout the home; wiring in the home is exposed and not secure; and there is trash and debris throughout the home.

Eash said some progress has been made with the cracks in the ceilings in the walls, but it is not complete. The front entry was repaired but there was no permit pulled and inspections were not done. The wiring has been taken care of, but one area he had not pointed out to Brunk until Monday morning still needs to be fixed.

Brunk testified that the roof and soffit were fixed. Eash said the roof was fixed, however, there was no inspection done. Graber Custom Remodeling is doing the work for her.

"They've done a thorough job," she said. They are also fixing the wall crack and the foundation work has been done.

The stain in the utility room is on the wallpaper, she said, but otherwise fixed.

As for her personal property, she anticipates sorting through belongings by the end of the week.

Brunk said she has hired a Realtor since the previous sale fell through. She will sign a contract with that Realtor and give that information to the city. Brunk said that she, the Realtor and an estate seller are working together to have a sale at the home.

Davis requested that the board defer receivership for a month to give Brunk time to sell the home and to finish the projects.

Board members extended the date for receivership referral to Oct. 31. If the house is not sold by then or Brunk has not brought the property into compliance and provided Eash with a copy of the listing agreement, the house will be referred to the legal department for receivership.

In the meeting of the Goshen Board of Public Works, prior to the Brunk hearing, board members:

—Made a conditional offer of employment to Tyler Douglas Smoker as a probationary patrol officer with the Goshen Police Department. They also approved and authorized Mayor Jeremy Stutsman to execute the agreement, which includes the payment of an $8,000 hiring bonus over Smoker's first five years of employment.

—Approved a Community Development Block Grant agreement for 2022 for owner-occupied housing rehabilitation with Lacasa totaling $59,000. They authorized the mayor to sign the grant agreement, as well.

—Approved and authorized the mayor to execute the amendment to an agreement with the Teamsters Local Union No. 364 to increase the wage rates for union job classifications in pay Category A with new rates retroactive to Aug. 12 for the mechanics in Union Category A and effective retroactive to Sept. 23 for SCADA operator technicians in Union Category A. The increase has already been approved by Goshen City Council.

—Approved and authorized the mayor to execute an agreement with Crist Inc., Nappanee, for the installation of a new Spacepac air handling unit the Annex Building at a cost of $6,604.

—Learned that hydrant flushing will begin Oct. 10 and continue through Oct. 15, weather permitting. Oct. 10-14, city crews will be flushing from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the upper pressure zone, which is everything northeast of U.S. 33 and the Norfolk Southern tracks. On Oct. 10, night-time flushing will take place from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. between North Greene Road, west to the city limits and between the Norfolk Southern tracks to the city limits south. On Oct. 11, flushing will run from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. between Cottage Avenue and 10th Street between the Norfolk Southern tracks south to the city limits and between Lincolnway East and the NS tracks heading east to the city limits. On Oct. 12, flushing will run from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. between Pike Street and the city limits south and between North Greene Road and Cottage Avenue. On Oct. 14, flushing will run from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. between NS and the city limits to the south, between North Greene Road and to the city limits to the west.

Water officials ask that people avoid doing laundry on the days they are closest to homes due to the rust that is being removed from the water mains. If there is a problem with laundry, call the Water Department to get special soap. For more information, call 574-534-5306.

—Approved the closure of Eisenhower Drive South at 1778 Eisenhower Drive South, from Oct. 4-6. Beer & Slabaugh will be installing new water taps for the Genesis Plant 10 site development. Local traffic will have access. Other traffic will be detoured via Dierdorff Road, Kercher Road and Messick Drive.

—Approved a wording amendment to Tyler Technologies' contract with the Clerk-Treasurer's office.

Sheila Selman can be reached at sheila.selman@goshennews.com or 574-533-2151, ext. 240311. Follow Sheila on Twitter @sselman_TGN.