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ELKINS -- Elkins city officials removed people who had been living in an abandoned property on Henry Avenue and are preparing to tear the structure down.
Elkins Fire Chief Tom Meader said officials were "very happy" to have cleared the unauthorized people out of the house.
"The Elkins Fire Department and the Code Enforcement Division were able to shut down an abandoned-type house that people were living in at 114 Henry Avenue," Meader said. "They couldn't get the people out. So myself and (Code Enforcement Officer) Phil (Isner) went over there.
"They hadn't had water for six weeks. That gives us the right" to get involved, he said.
"The police had been having a lot of trouble with that place, you know, people coming in and out, in and out, getting a lot of calls… Now it's secure, and they will be tearing it down as soon as the city gets the equipment to tear it down."
Meader described the conditions inside the house as "pretty nasty."
"Once the water is turned off … you can live without power, but you can't live without water. And that's one of the things that Building Maintenance and the Code Enforcement Division can act on," he said.
Isner told The Inter-Mountain the water being turned off to the house was the key to resolving the situation.
"The (Randolph County) Housing Authority is now the owner of the property, and they asked us to get involved," Isner said Thursday afternoon. "Dave Clark (of the Housing Authority) called us, and if they had gone through the eviction process that would have taken weeks, but because the water was turned off we were able to get them out in 24 hours."
Isner said the property had been taken over by a bank, which then gave it to the Housing Authority.
"They say they want to have it demolished by the city," Isner said.
The issue of dilapidated properties has been discussed and debated by Elkins city officials and residents alike in 2018.
A letter bearing 325 signatures calling for action on the dilapidated properties issue was presented to city officials during the public comment section of the July 5 Elkins City Council meeting by Kathy Vance, the organizer of the Town Hall series of meetings that have focused on distressed properties for several years now.
Earlier this year, City Council voted to approve a new ordinance aiming to help the city deal with dilapidated properties. The purpose of the law is to provide "a process for the identification, inspection, correction and removal of unsafe structures within the city in a manner that ensures adequate notice to the owners of such structures while protecting the public from danger due to unsafe or unsanitary conditions."
In June, Council voted to approve the purchase of a dump trailer for no more than $20,000, in order to "facilitate the demolition of dilapidated properties and other needs of the city," according to the resolution.
"This will help allow us to do our own demolitions," Fifth Ward Councilman Dave Parker said at the time.