MITCHELL – During Monday’s meeting of the Mitchell City Council, member Vicky Schlegel questioned why fines have not been issued to the owner of the Fun Finds Antiques, Collectibles and More shop for the poor maintenance of his building that led to its partial structural collapse in December, which caused safety concerns for others in the area and forced nearby businesses to close briefly.
The building’s back wall collapsed, falling on a gas line and causing a leak which forced others in the area to evacuate. Evacuations were forced from the city’s Warren Street to South Mississippi Avenue and Eighth Street to Fifth Street.
Schlegel questioned the council, as well as Mitchell Mayor Nathan Jenkins, asking why fines were not issued to the property owner for not bringing his building up to code and addressing structural issues that he was warned about last year, prior to the collapse of the back wall.
“With no fines in place and having businesses in that whole area shut down for a day. No income, their employees didn’t work and then we haven’t fined him, the owner. That’s pretty stunning,” she said.
Jenkins, who took over as Mayor in Nov. of 2022, just before the collapse said he was unsure of why there was not stronger enforcement throughout last year.
“It was partially collapsed all of last year, so I can’t say why they didn’t force him to fix that last year,” Jenkins said. “He was supposed to start today. I need to get up there and see whether they showed up to do so.”
Schlegel said that because the owner was given warning of the issues and did not act, he was eligible to accrue daily fines until the issues were addressed.
“He was given notice to repair it and never did, then he should have been accruing fines the entire time,” she said. “I think it was what, $20 per day, per infraction for one part and the other part is like $500 per day. So, that’s a substantial amount of money that should have been dealt with,” she later noted.
Jenkins later clarified that he is unsure of whether or not the owner received an official letter notifying him of the violations and would need to look into the matter before next month’s meeting.
Concerns over the long-term stability of the building were raised as well, should repairs be made at this point.
At this point, Jenkins said no engineering study has been conducted on the building to determine what fixes are needed and if it can be salvaged. He fears that if the city requires the owner to have a study done, he would decide to demolish the building instead of repairing it, which could threaten other neighboring buildings that are structurally connected.
“If we forced him to get an engineer, then he’s gonna tear the building down, and we’re gonna lose the entire block. So you’ve got to decide what’s more important,” Jenkins said.
He believes the building can be restored and does not need to be demolished.
“The building is fixable, it may not be the way an engineer would want to do it. They would say tear it down, but if you go about it the right way. It is fixable,” said Jenkins.
Schlegel said she feels the city should be involved in the repair process and should have access to improvement plans and inspections prior to any work being completed.
“So, I mean as part of the process then we should see plans and inspections and possibly an engineering report if they’re going to go in and repair this for liability purposes,” she said. “If the building is uninhabitable and they’re working on it, the city has to be part of that process, to inspect it according to our ordinances now.”
At this point, the building has been deemed unsafe for occupancy by the Indiana State Fire Marshal, but it has not been condemned.
