The right side of the fourth block of downtown Yazoo City remains in limbo once again after the city council removed two parcels from being cleaned up by the city.
The recent Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting included heavy discussion of two parcels on Main Street that have been left in rubble after its owners salvaged what bricks and other material proved valuable. Those lots, 414 S. Main Street and 428 S. Main Street, were removed from a list of six residential homes to be demolished by the city through an outside contractor.
It was a unanimous decision by the city council to demolish six homes located at 215 James Street, 323 Calhoun Ave., 509 Ethel Street, 719 East Madison Street, 107 East Sixth Street and 318 North Ward Street. The lowest and best quote of $26,568 was approved by the board for Beyond Expectations LLC to demolish those properties. However, the two Main Street lots were removed unanimously after a lengthy discussion among the city council.
Building Inspector Russ Carter said the two downtown parcels should not have even been included in the six residential properties.
“It was supposed to be two orders,” Carter said. “One order was supposed to be for the residential houses, and that cost was the $26,000 quote. There was supposed to be a second order for the two properties downtown. They were bid out at around $10,000. They messed up when they put those with the houses.”
Aldermen Sir Johnathan Rucker and Elizabeth Thomas said they were reluctant to push forward on the Main Street properties because they had concerns over what has been done already to the buildings. Both Rucker and Thomas said a contractor removed all the valuable bricks from the two parcels and skipped town.
But Carter said the contractor Rucker and Thomas was referring to has nothing to do with the properties. He said they were mistaken about what contractor handled the job. He said the property owners hired a contractor from Hattiesburg to remove the historic bricks. Afterwards, the property owners were supposed to clean off what was left remaining on the lots.
“They weren’t expecting the steel frames inside two of those buildings,” Carter said. “That is where they had to draw the line and stop. They were already in the process to be torn down through resolution C, which gives the city the right to go in there. We held up until they got through. When they got through, when I realized they could not negotiate, that is when I included them in with the six other properties to tear down.”
Carter said he doesn’t understand the confusion surrounding the two parcels and is ready to move forward with cleaning the properties, which he admits are an eyesore.
Based on land records with the Yazoo County Tax Assessor office, the parcel, located at 414 S. Main Street, is owned by Easthaven Tax Buyers from Brandon. Tate Lyle from Madison owns 428 S. Main Street.
Mayor Diane Delaware said she was ready to move forward with cleaning up the downtown properties and was confused as to why Rucker and Thomas had reservations. Although she went with the majority of the vote to remove the parcels, she said the board should reconsider its action.
“I’ve been getting a lot of complaints about the buildings on Main Street,” she said. “I can’t take any more heat on Main Street.”
