The Mountain Home City Council voted Thursday night to condemn several buildings located on an often-discussed piece of property on Rossi Road.Mayor Hillrey Adams cast the tiebreaking vote to condemn a house and several mobile homes at the former Circle A Mobile Home Park, which is located at 1207 Rossi Road and is owned by Jamie Mann. The state of that property — and what actions, if any, the city should take — had been discussed at at least five council meetings over the past two years.
The ordinance adopted Thursday night states in part, “It is the opinion of the City Council that the buildings described herein have become dilapidated, unsightly, unsafe, unsanitary and detrimental to the public welfare,” and calls for the removal of those buildings.
Mann addressed the City Council Thursday night and said that equipment was being brought in to demolish the house on the property. Mobile homes on the property had also been recently boarded up and sealed, something that council members had expressed concern about seeing done in previous meetings.
A decision by the Mountain Home City Council to condemn a property is just the first step in a longer legal journey. Once the council votes to condemn a property, the city then files a lawsuit in circuit court asking a judge to rule that the property meets the stated conditions. If that judge agrees with the city, then those properties can be razed by the city. That legal process can take anywhere from several months to several years.
Council members deadlocked 4-4 Thursday night on whether to condemn the Rossi Road property, with Jennifer Baker, Wayne Almond, Carry Manuel and Jim Bodenhamer voting in favor of condemnation and Bob Van Haaren, Susan Stockton, Paige Evans and Nick Reed each voting against it. The mayor is allowed to cast a vote in the event of tie.
A previous city council had discussed condemning the property in the summer of 2020, but that effort failed with then-council members voted 5-3 against taking action against the properties.
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