Glenwood Officials Concerned About Partially-collapsed House
Glenwood officials are concerned that the owner of this damaged house on South Chestnut Street has not made the repairs mandated in a court order.
Large tree limbs sit on top the damaged portion of this house on South Chestnut Street.
The City of Glenwood is considering additional legal action against the owner of a house that has major structural damage and continues to be occupied.
Glenwood officials believe the owner of the home, Matthew Kelleher, resides at the property, located at 512 S. Chestnut St.
The two-story house is partially collapsed and has major damage on the south side of the structure. A large tree limb is lying over the damaged portion of the house that is visibly exposed to the elements.
Although some tree damage is believed to have happened during the December derecho, city officials say most of the damage to the house occurred months before the storm.
“The issues with that house predate the storm,” Glenwood City Administrator Amber Farnan said.
Kelleher was initially cited with a civil infraction for violation of the city’s nuisance ordinance in July 2021, according to online court records. Kelleher was later mandated by court order in October 2021 to have the nuisance abated by Dec. 1, 2021. That didn’t happen.
Glenwood City Attorney Matt Woods advised the Glenwood City Council last week to continue citing and putting legal pressure on the property owner to get the nuisance abated.
“The judge should tell the owner what to do within a specified time frame,” Woods said. “If that person doesn’t do that, he can be held in contempt of court.”
Woods said the house appears to qualify as a dangerous building and the owner could be cited for structural defect and fire hazard.
“I think he needs to be cited, frankly, with a dangerous building violation” Woods said. “That building looks horrible. I can’t believe someone lives in that thing. I don’t think we’ll have a hard time convincing a judge, just in front of a magistrate, that this needs to be rectified or it needs to be torn down.”
If the owner challenges the “dangerous building” declaration, Woods recommended the city hire a “qualified expert” with certification or an engineering background to conduct a formal inspection of the property.
Attempts to reach Kelleher for comment were unsuccessful.