City conducts hearing on substandard properties

By Melissa McCaghren

Slatonite Editor

The City of Slaton conducted a public hearing on four substandard structures Monday evening (Nov. 10) during its monthly meeting.

The properties discussed were 985 Oklahoma St., owned by the Franklin Dimple Lee Estate, 405 S. New Mexico St. owned by the late Noal and Mattie Wilburn, 840 S. Collins St., owned by Armando Muro and Brayam Muro, and 165 W. Panhandle St., owned by Vanessa Ann Valadez and Luis Manuel Valadez.

Code Enforcement Officer Rebecca Britton and the Texas 

Communities Group, or TCG, gave descriptions of each of the properties. All showed signs of structural deterioration, unsafe interiors, open for vandalism, exposed items such as broken windows, doors missing, collapsed roofs and other unsanitary conditions.

Each property was recommended to have a 30 day abatement, and owners had received all documentation as well as a public notice posted in the paper.

They added a fifth property had been up for abatement, but the people who owned the property chose to demolish the building themselves, and had paid for said demo.

The item was tabled for December as a vote on the item was not posted in the agenda. City Manager Wade Willson said they would need to have a meeting or a special meeting conducted to vote for the days of the abatement. Britton said if they vote for the 30 days abatements, she would work on getting bids for the demolition before the meeting.

For more information, including other items discussed by the Commission, please read the Thursday edition of The Slatonite.