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eCITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK Ms. Johns replied, They are more beneficial over cars,just because we go down the alleyways so much, and then in the winter, and you know muddy seasons, spring and everything like that. The cars often get stuck. So, the trucks are definitely helpful. Ms. Skibins stated, We had a couple of Priuses that did not go well. Ms. Johns stated, If the inspectors have a truck, what they'll often do is if there's something blocking an alleyway that they're easily able to pick up, they can just put it in there and then they can take it and dispose of it. Councilmember Broden followed up, And then just back to the demolition costs associated with these large commercial structures. First(1 st) question, do we actually even have an inventory? Ms. Johns replied, We do have quite a few. The unfortunate part is that we know that a lot of them have asbestos, which means that cost is going to be very, very high to be able to address those properties. So,there's like the Mary Crest building,that's one(1)that comes up. We've got Sibley, which is currently working through the EPA trying to get funds through there to be able to take care of it. Ms. Skibins stated, The Wilson Shirt Factory. Ms. Johns stated, Yep. And we've got quite a few more that we have identified as demo affirmed already. What would be nice to see is if we could find the funds for it,to be able to go through and just do an inventory of the abandoned commercial structures out there,and then be able to prioritize them and try to see what the highest and lowest cost would be, too. Councilmember Broden followed up, So that was my next question. So, we don't even have the status of the hazards on those properties? Ms. Johns replied, No, we don't test until we're actually getting ready to bid something out, or if we have like an emergency demolition. Then we'll go in and we'll test if we're able to, if it is safe to. Councilmember Broden stated, Thank you very much. Councilmember Sharon L. McBride stated, Thank you. Going along, you've talked about the commercial demolition. Can you talk a little bit about the housing demolition process specifically? I had a house on Indiana and there were complaints about it being that way, you know, since I called it in some months ago. But there is a process for people to understand. Can you talk a little bit briefly through that? Ms.Johns replied, So,when we first(1st)identify a property that has a housing violation,they will be sent a letter and the owner is given a chance to make the repairs. Typically, that letter asks for thirty(30) days to be able to make the repairs. The goal is to get the person to contact us so we can come up with a new repair agreement working together. If they are non-responsive and we have to go out there month after month, typically it's about six (6) months or more before we actually take it to a hearing. If we go to a hearing,if the owner shows up,we try to work with them to come EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY j INNOVATION INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov 14