Council discusses historic Main Street building

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Council again discussed 201 and 203 N. Main St. at its meeting Wednesday evening, raising questions about the city’s options regarding the building.

The building is on the National Registry of Historic Places and has been designated one of the most endangered historical properties in Iowa by Preserve Iowa, a state preservation organization.

“The concerns are the status of the building,” said Charles City Administrator Steven Diers. “How do we know the building is in decent enough shape that’s it’s not going to fall in on itself?”

At the council’s February 14 meeting the building was discussed, and an inspection was considered.

An inspection could cost the city from $5,000 to $8,000, Diers said. The initial payment for that work would have to be from the city.

“The city will likely have some expense when it comes to inspecting the property and following up with that,” Diers said. “It’s going to involve drilling holes every 24 inches on center to inspect joints and then patching that.”

The property owner hasn’t been cooperative with the city about the inspection, Diers said.

Ellyn Dix has owned the building since at least 1997, according to Floyd County records. The building is valued at $169,730.

“We’re kind of at a point where we need to decide if we want to move forward with legal action to get in there and inspect it,” Diers said.

Charles City Attorney Brad Sloter said he wasn’t optimistic about scheduling a time with the owner to inspect the building.

“We’re at the point that if we are going to inspect there’s still some potential for cooperation, but I think we’re going to have to push forward with seeking an administrative warrant to get a structural engineer in there,” Sloter said.

Council member Jerry Joerger asked what the city’s legal options are.

If the city has reasonable suspicion that there are building code violations or nuisance conditions, the City Code allows code enforcement officers to go in and inspect the property, Sloter said.

“The more immediate concern is the structural integrity of the building,” Sloter said.

If the owner doesn’t maintain the building the city could file a municipal citation that authorizes the city to fine the owner of the property, Sloter said.

“That fine is a lean on the property,” Sloter said. “If the owner doesn’t address the issues the city can go in and correct the deficiencies and assess those cost to the property.”

“We all want to preserve that building,” Joerger said, but he said he doesn’t want to set a precedent for the city taking care of building issues.

The city would not have legal authority to recoup the cost of an inspection, Sloter said.

On Jan. 24 the Business Improvement Committee presented a letter to the Charles City mayor and City Council, saying, “The deterioration of the … property has been the subject of numerous discussions by the Business Improvement Committee, and other entities/individuals in Charles City.”

The letter was signed by Business Improvement Committee chairman and Charles City Council member DeLaine Freeseman.

The council also received a letter from the Charles City Historical Preservation Commission on Sept. 11, 2017.

That letter, signed by commission Chairman Jeff Sisson, asked the council to hire an independent preservation building architect to provide a detailed assessment of the condition of the building, as well as the condition of its neighbor, 205 N. Main St.

The building, along with the North Main Street Historic District and Central Park, were named as part of the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The building was one the few left standing downtown after the 1968 category 5 tornado swept devastation through Charles City and Oelwein.

The three-story structure was constructed by Ira and Anson Brackett from native limestone taken out of the old Fairgrounds Quarry, now known as Lions Field Park.

The council will discuss the building further at its 6 p.m. April 16 session.