HUNTINGTON — The city of Huntington is moving full steam ahead with its continued effort to remove and demolish unsafe buildings within the city.
During a Huntington City Council meeting Monday night, council members unanimously approved a resolution to fund the demolition of more than 100 structures.
The contract for this project was awarded to Danny Sullivan Excavating, of Coal Grove, Ohio, with an expected cost not to exceed $1.5 million.
Funds for these demolitions will come from the city’s general fund, Community Development Block Grant funds and private donations.
In October, Huntington Mayor Steve Williams announced the city’s goal to demolish all 119 buildings currently on the city’s unsafe building list by June 30, the end of the fiscal year. The demolition is part of Project B.A.N.E., which stands for Blight and Nuisance Elimination.
During the meeting, Christal Perry, the city’s demolition specialist, provided an update on this project.
Since October, Perry said 43 structures have been removed from the unsafe building list: 24 were demolished by the city, 12 were demolished by the owner and seven were removed from the list after being rehabilitated.
Perry informed council members that the city’s unsafe building list is constantly changing with buildings being removed and added all the time.
As it stands now, Perry said there are 110 structures on the list.
“If you do the math, 119 minus 43 does not equal 110, but that shows you that the list will go up and down,” she said.
She added that the elimination of the 119 structures announced by the mayor in October will put the city in a position to have a much more manageable list of unsafe buildings.
In 2019, the city demolished 104 unsafe building, four more than its goal.
While it may seem like a constantly growing list, in 2013 there were roughly 400 structures on the list, a number that has been drastically reduced by these efforts.
In other business, council approved a resolution to fund repairs to the Huntington Police Department headquarters for damage from an Oct. 30 fire.
The repairs will cost a total of $49,067 and will be completed by E.P. Leach & Sons Inc., of Huntington. The repairs include replacing ceiling tile on the first and second floors, replacing the bottom two feet of drywall in property bays, placing new carpet in property and other bays, painting and cleaning the floor.
The damage was caused by a fire that was reported at about 11 p.m. Oct. 30 and started on a desk of the second-floor Investigations Bureau. It was extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system.
The repairs will be covered by insurance proceeds.
Council also heard the first reading of an ordinance authorizing the city to enter into an intergovernmental agreement on behalf of the Huntington Police Department with the Village of Barboursville Police Department.
Huntington Police Chief Ray Cornwell said the ordinance is an update to an existing memorandum of understating with the Barboursville Police Department for the use of its officers in Huntington’s violent crimes and drug task force.
Cornwell said the ordinance states how items seized during joint police task force investigations would be divided between the Huntington and Barboursville police departments.
While division of funds is decided by the local federal prosecutor in federal cases, there is no agreement when it comes to cases filed in state court. Cornwell said the departments have been dividing the funds on a case-by-case agreement.
The agreement calls for Huntington police to receive 80% of funds if an HPD officer is the lead on the case or 60% if the Barboursville officer is the lead.
The funds come from cash or materials seized, and later forfeited in court, during warrant execution throughout the area. It typically is used for law enforcement needs throughout the department.
Council also heard the first reading of two ordinances to suspend B&O taxes for restaurants and retail shops and the refuse fee for residents.
The request would be the fourth time council has been asked to cancel a .25% tax for 819 businesses in the city and a $20-a-month refuse fee for city residents.
If approved, the reduction will be in place until March 31, 2021.
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