FAYETTEVILLE — West Fork officials say they acted appropriately in condemning and razing two houses and they’re entitled to the full amount of the city’s lien on the property.
Steve Caudle claims the city’s $14,822 lien is unreasonable. Caudle asked earlier this month for a judge to review a lien the city filed against him to force the cleanup of his property.
The city is charging Caudle $10,500 for the cost to raze and remove two buildings and charging him $4,322 in attorney fees.
The city maintains that the fees are for demolition, incidental costs of making the property safe, administrative costs and attorney fees. The lien attaches to the property at the county courthouse and must be settled before any sale of the property.
Caudle argues, in Washington County Circuit Court, that the lien should not have included the removal of foundation materials, which was not necessary to correct the unsafe condition of the property. Caudle claims the city either isn’t entitled to attorney fees or the fees include costs for work that was unrelated to the clean up lien.
The lien was filed Nov. 10.
Caudle fought with the city for months over the condemnation and eventual demolition of the buildings, at 280 W. Main St. One of the buildings had been used as a residence and the other was a former beauty shop.
The fight started in January when the city council decided the properties were unsafe and ordered Caudle to demolish them or make repairs within a month.
The city condemned the property after an engineer’s inspection showed the property to be unsafe.
Caudle sued, claiming he was not provided proper notice and his request for a building permit to repair the property was denied.
The case eventually ended up in front of a federal judge who in July declared the buildings a nuisance and health hazard and allowed the city to demolish them in September.