LAWTON – The City Council voted to mail the owners of dilapidated structures invoices for more than $278,000 contractors were paid by the city to demolish their buildings.
The biggest of those contracts was awarded to Environmental Action Inc. last May for demolition of a nursing home at 1301 NW Andrews Ave.
City Hall calculated the final bill at $265,155, which included the cost of demolition, public notice, lien filing fees, postage and research fees, in accordance with state law. “This is the amount relayed to the property owner [Transforming Hand Inc. of Rogers, Arkansas] as their personal obligation,” wrote Deputy City Attorney Tim Wilson and Community Services Director Charlotte Brown.
The cost was certified prior to Oct. 22 to ensure the invoice was included in a mailing from the Comanche County Treasurer’s Office, Brown and Wilson said.
The City Council also accepted staff’s report that the city paid two contractors $13,295 to dismantle and remove five dangerous and dilapidated houses in Lawton earlier this month.
Invoices on those properties are mailed to the individuals who are registered as property owners both on deed and through the county treasurer, and they have six months to pay the invoices on D&D demolitions.
If the invoice isn’t paid, a lien is filed with the county treasurer as a special assessment and also as a lien on the property through the county clerk. The lien is on the same level as the property taxes, city officials said.