Webb City to demolish 13 buildings

Phil Walsack, the city’s public works director, said three of the buildings to be razed are residential spaces purchased by the city — a house adjacent to City Hall, another adjacent to the city’s water tower, and a third adjacent to the Webb City Public Library, which, when demolished, will provide space for extra parking. Most of the others are private residences, though there are a couple of buildings that previously housed businesses, Walsack said.

One of the properties in question is the former Coin Op Inc. building on Highway 171 in Webb City. Keith Erwin McBride, owner of the business, has been sentenced to five years in prison for setting the building on fire on April 15, 2005. McBride had leased coin-operated vending and amusement machines and games to businesses in Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas.

The building has since sat vacant. The city has been going through various requirements in order to see the building demolished.

“We’ve already sent out one certified letter to all lien holders and owners,” said city employee Kim DeMoss.

“The second required certified letter was sent out Sept. 24. Before anything can be done to a building we have to do title searches and lien searches, and this building had several lien holders.”

Walsack said the certified letters simply state that the city finds the building “dangerous,” and that anyone with a vested interest in the building should follow appropriate steps to acquire a demolition permit or a building permit if they want to restore the damages. If, at the end of the 30-day period following the second letter, the city receives no response, Walsack said the city files it’s own demolition permit and moves forward with the demolition bidding process.

“If someone does respond to the letters then they have to attend a finding of fact hearing,” Walsack said. “That allows us to gain an understanding of what the owners wish to do with the building.”

When the city is forced to file its own permit and proceed with the demolition on its own, Walsack said a tax lien for the amount of the demolition is placed on the property.

Bids for the demolition of the 13 buildings were awarded to B&D Yardbuilders Inc., a Joplin-based excavation and demolition contractor, on Oct. 2. Walsack said all bids were sealed, and that the bid was awarded to the lowest contractor’s price for all 13 building demolitions.

“Of course, we’re not asking for all 13 to be dropped in a day,” Walsack said. “We’ve just gotten behind so we have to do so many at once.”