WARSAW —During the city of Warsaw Hearing Docket of code violations on Monday, Dec. 19, it was discussed thata  home at 502 W. Winona Ave., Warsaw, has still not been repaired and cleaned after a fire in October. Due to the fire, windows were shattered and firefighters had to cut a hole in the roof. The owners Ralph and Joellen Fitch had been ordered to remove vehicles that had been in the yard on the property. Three of the four vehicles on the property have been removed.

Trash and other items had been left on the front porch of the home. The individuals who had rented the home had salvaged what items they could and left other items on the porch when they moved from the home after the fire.

The home currently has broken windows, which would allow anyone access into the home.

Hearing officer Lawrence Clifford order a civil penalty of $5,000 to the owners because the home has been vacant but unsecured and has been a continual fire hazard to those who could come on the premises.

Clifford advised the fire department should give their opinion on whether the home should be demolished.

A Warsaw home continues to face struggles to become liveable. Homeowner Kyle Babcock has had a long history of trying to make his home at 330 Ringneck Trail, Warsaw, code compliant since 2006. Babcock claims the contractor built the home improperly and is in the process of filing a legal suit against the contractor.

The newest obstacle that has come to the home is mold. During the last hearing docket in October, Altisource, a natural preservation company, was given 60 days to complete additional work on his home to make it code compliant.

It was testified work had been completed to clean the home. Jeff Woken, spoke on behalf of Altisource and explained they had used anti-antimicrobial spray and negative air scrubbing for seven days without receiving the intended results. Even after this was done, a test revealed high levels of mold were present in the basement of the home.

Duct work had been done and the interior of the home had been repainted since October, however the home is still not livable due to the high mold content. Woken asked that they be given an extension to complete work in the home until Feb. 21, 2017, in order to find out what more could be done to get rid of the mold.

Clifford ordered the additional work to be completed by the next hearing docket on Feb. 21, 2017.

Other News: 

• A tree house at 719 W. Market St., Warsaw, owned by Mitchell and Jennifer Dawson had been ordered to be demolished. It was noted the owners had demolished the tree house as instructed and were in compliance with the order.