By KEVIN CHIRI
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – The Slidell City Council was faced with demolishing two area homes at their Tuesday night meeting and at the end of the night the very different cases demonstrated the rigorous process the city goes through to demolish a dilapidated home, and then why it is important to follow that process.
The City Council is still dealing with homes that were flooded 10 years ago during Hurricane Katrina, some of which have been abandoned or are still sitting in terrible condition due to storm damage and a lack of attention from the homeowner.
Two such homes came before the City Council at their last meeting with recommendations for demolishment from Slidell Chief Building Officer Joe France.
The first home located at 440 Briargrove Dr. off Robert Boulevard is reportedly owned by Antoine Neville.
However, an extensive search the city undertook to find him resulted in an inability to locate the owner, leading the city to finally seek condemnation, followed by demolishing the home.
The second home before the council, located at 122 Island Drive off Bayou Liberty Road, presented a very different case for the city with an attorney for the property owner showing up at the City Council meeting and arguing the city has not followed the letter of the law before considering condemnation and demolishing the home.
Attorney Richard Tonry appeared before the council when the Island Drive home was brought up for discussion, representing property owner Rhea Properties, and company member Richard Dicherry, who reportedly lives next door to the property.
Tonry questioned the qualifications of France to recommend condemnation and demolishing the home, and also questioned whether the city had followed state law in proving the home was unfit to remain standing.
Slidell City Attorney Bryan Haggerty responded by saying that state law provides criteria for the city to condemn and demolish the home by following the procedures they have always gone through.
“I am absolutely certain we have met the burden of proof,” Haggerty said.
Haggerty and Tonry ended up at the podium in front of the City Council arguing the case as if it was a high-profile civil proceeding, with City Council members clearly bristling at the suggestion from Tonry that France was not qualified, or that the city has not followed proper procedure to condemn the property.
Tonry asked France if he was a certified engineer, to which France said he was not, then asked if France had performed any scientific analysis on the home to which France acknowledged he did not do.
However, Haggerty noted that France has 26 certifications for building construction to qualify as the Slidell chief building officer, and added state law does not require an engineer’s examination to condemn the property.
DiCherry reportedly lives next door to the property and talked with France earlier in the summer when he said he was going to demolish the home, the Slidell building inspection said. An inspection by France reported the home has holes in the roof, a collapsed patio roof and is partially gutted. He said there is severe decay, rot and termite damage there, with neighbors continually complaining to the city about the condition of the home.
France said DiCherry told him in the summer he was going to apply for a demolition permit, but never followed through. Now that the City Council was ready to demolish the property and send the bill to Rhea Properties, Tonry was sent to try and halt the proceedings.
“The fact the property owner has sent you here (Tonry) and not shown up for this proceeding proves this is just a stall tactic,” Councilman Val Vanney said, displaying slight anger at the action of the owners. “He’s had more than enough time. What if some children get into that home and get hurt?”
Tonry said there is a metal fence around the property, but others with the city claimed it was still easy for children to get into the home.
Tonry also claimed state law said the notice from the city to the owners needed to be signed and sent from the mayor or chief of staff, but Haggerty argued city law allows that power to be designated to others on the city staff.
“We have sent notice to the property owner as required, but he is not here tonight to say anything,” Haggerty said. “The law provides criteria for us to condemn this home and we have followed the law.”
In the end the City Council voted 9-0 to condemn the home and order it to be demolished within 10 days.
The first case of the night couldn’t have been more timely to display the lengths the city goes to allow for due process to homeowners.
The property at 440 Briargrove is reportedly owned by Antoine Neville, but the city has had all its certified mail notices returned without being received. The law states the city should then hire a curator to go to extreme lengths to find the owner.
Slidell attorney Lydia Alford was hired for that job and gave a report to the City Council which showed a long list of attempts to find the homeowner.
Alford said she researched the name in public records, through homestead exemptions, on the Internet in every search possible and through land records. She found the home was originally purchased in 1993 and had been remortgaged four times through 2005.
She also searched criminal and civil lawsuit records, went through the secretary of state to find five companies owned by Neville that all were no longer active, and also searched the white pages, yellow pages and online social media outlets such as LinkedIn. She also searched obituary records to see if Neville was deceased, but found no information on him.
“We can’t find him,” Alford concluded.
France said he inspected the home and found two large holes in the roof with some of the roof caving in. He said the home was unfit to be occupied and recommended condemnation, which the City Council supported in a 9-0 vote, followed by a 9-0 vote to demolish it.