Tearing down the house

Nearly five months after property owner Patsy Morris’ first appearance before the Navasota City Council, she made the decision at the Monday, March 28, meeting to tear down the structure at 716 E. Washington Avenue.

Complaints about junk and debris in 2020 prompted talks with Morris, and ultimately, the October 2021 inspection which revealed unsafe, unsanitary, dangerous conditions, damage to 50% or more of walls, ceilings, roofs or floors, and compromised walls or other vertical integrity which could result in collapse.

At the Nov. 8, 2021, public hearing, Morris said she and her late husband Curtis purchased the two-story house on Washington at Leon Street in 2019 to improve, then sell or rent. Covid prevented them from evicting squatters, made it difficult to find contractors to complete the work Curtis started, and while she recovered from Covid, he died. Morris was given 90-days to provide a detailed plan and time schedule for work she planned to perform.

Appearing before council Feb. 28, 2022, and again Monday following an additional 30-day extension, Morris still had no plans for repair and cited difficulty obtaining written estimates other than one $26,000 for foundation repair.

Morris indicated she had the funds to clean it up to sell but it would “take time.” Demolishing the house would impact the resale value.

City inspector Jack Kelso described the house as “not structurally sound” and that it could be repaired “if you’ve got enough money.”

Upon Morris’ decision to tear down, she was given 60 days to demolish and 30 days for cleanup. She plans to leave the “back building” which had no code violations.

Reports from City staff or City officials:

-Received an update on the Capital Improvement Project from Director of Streets and Sanitation, Jose Coronilla. They continue to reconcile discrepancies between the GIS mapping and the actual location of some underground utilities before work begins.

-Received the Water Modeling Project update indicating a need or a new water tower on the east side of Navasota.

-Received comments related to the Gas Modeling Project with a report to follow in ApriL

• Jose Coronilla reported that 14-30-yard roll-offs were filled up during the Annual Spring Clean Up and 490 tires were brought for disposaL

-Received Board and Commission reports from council liaisons.

View city council meetings in their entirety at www.navasotatx.gov/city-council/pages/ meeting-videos.