Bottom Line On the Dangerous Buildings: We Need Answers

Everyone, full disclosure.  I know sometimes people think we at the radio stations, or even people working for newspapers or television stations, are always in the know about everything happening in local politics.  That's not true. It's even less true than the thought that we're in the middle of some illuminati conspiracy.

In fact, I try not to write about such things from an opinion standpoint, because what I think often isn't as important as what you think.  More often than not, I'll want to address an issue by asking you what you think. But on this one.... I have a dog in the fight.  And I don't think it's too much to just want to know what's going on.

I live in the Victorian Towers neighborhood of Sedalia.  Of the three dangerous buildings that were demolished, 1512 South Prospect Avenue, 119 South Stewart, and 818 West 5th Street, I live nearby the one on 5th Street.

In fact, I know a little bit of the story on that one.  The lady who had lived there was older, on her own and on fixed income, and she didn't own the house.  So she couldn't really afford to do some upgrades (there was a particularly dangerous wall in the basement she told me had collapsed, but I didn't see it for myself).  She had, in fact, moved out a few years ago.  The house had sat unoccupied for at least three years.  Might have been longer, if I'm being honest.  I don't recall when she left exactly.

For us living in the neighborhood, of course, yes, it was a bit of an eye sore, but nothing huge.  I was more worried about who or what was in there.  We have dealt with bug infestations, animal problems (first there was a skunk living there, then there was a family of possums,  and then it was raccoons), you name it.   Of course, a couple of my neighbors also expressed concerns about squatters, which was a real concern for us as well, considering several of the windows of the house were unsecured.  All we needed was someone to get in there and start cooking meth or something.

And then, the demo came.  They put a notice on her door.  We looked at it because we were nosy, but the two houses next door did not get a notice that demolition was happening or when.  (I don't know if that's normal or not.  I mean, I thought it would be? Like, if someone's going to tear down the house next to you, they'd give you a heads up?) But maybe me not paying attention to everything in council meetings is the consequence of that.  So anyway, the demo happened on February 26th.

Fast forward to March 20th, and not only is the mess still there, but now the city has sent out a press release a few days ago  (again, nobody put a notice on our door, and I don't know if that's the procedure or not) about it.  I got a little nervous when they started the release by talking about the materials that were destroyed.  What did the DNR say? Are we talking about asbestos?  It just says they "received a letter".  Being that vague about it does not give me confidence. They don't say anything about the content of the letter.

It also recommended specific remediation steps to ensure proper handling and disposal of debris at 119 South Stewart and 818 West 5th Street. In response, City crews are actively developing a plan to remediate the affected properties and dispose of debris in accordance with state and federal guidelines. Our teams are focused on ensuring the process is conducted safely and in full compliance with MO DNR and EPA requirements.

So.... what now?

I hope nobody misunderstands this, you surely get where we're coming from.  If this is dangerous material sitting there, it's an issue.  There are neighborhood dogs, cats, and kids that may or may not have gotten into that, and if there's something terrible in there, it's getting spread around.  Not just by kids and animals, but also the crazy wind storms we've been having.

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Do we just get to sit here and hope we don't breathe in asbestos?  Because particularly after last week.... too late.  It's happened whether we liked it or not.

I understand you can't just magically create a job and crew and that red tape takes a minute.  And I'm sure the crews are working as hard as they can.  But is it really that much to ask to know what's going on in our backyards?  Is it that much to ask when things are happening, and why they're happening?

I admit I'm coming at this from a layman's point of view, but... if we're talking about asbestos, why didn't anybody test before the demolition happened? Did we seriously not think this was a possibility until AFTER it had been decided?

I don't know. I don't know any more than you do. In fairness, I did call down to Bryan Kopp's office for a couple of questions, or maybe a statement, but my call wasn't returned. Or wasn't returned yet. If he does respond, I'll put it here.

Bryan Kopp met with me Friday morning. I have more on that story here.

Askingly yours,
Behka