Even though she paid some of her debt earlier this year, Jefferson City government officials told the Cole County Circuit Court this week that Barbara Buescher still owes $26,720.33 for work the city has done to maintain several of her properties.
City officials this week filed an amended, 25-count petition listing properties the city has boarded up or done yard maintenance on, then billed Buescher for the work as allowed by the city's "nuisance" ordinances.
Assistant City Attorney Bryan Wolford said Buescher covered a substantial portion of the roughly $49,000 the city initially sought when the case was filed in December, when she paid overdue property taxes in August. Wolford said that payment of roughly $24,000 covered the first three counts of the initial petition.
Wolford said the city also added nine counts for new tax liens that have come up since the city's suit was filed last year, though he noted the new counts were for minor issues and only totaled about $2,000 in costs.
After hearing Monday from Wolford and Buescher's attorney, Steven C. Reed, Presiding Circuit Judge Pat Joyce took "under advisement" the issue of the amended petition.
"We're hopeful that she will grant us leave to file that amended petition and be able to get the new charges on there," Wolford said.
He said he hopes to bring the case to trial within the next three to four months, noting he knows the process may seem lengthy.
"I know it seems like a long time, especially considering the case has been out there for a year, but you've got to figure it took us almost four or five months to get her served because she kept hiding from us," Wolford said. "They've been delaying this as much as they can."
More than half the total bill in the amended suit is for last year's $17,000 demolition of the building at 111 Adams St., which was destroyed in an Aug. 8, 2013, arson fire.
A homeless man, David A. Garceau, now 40, was sentenced last February to seven years in prison for setting that fire, plus second-degree burglary and theft charges, and currently is in the state's custody at the Eastern Reception and Diagnostic Center, Bonne Terre.
The amended petition lists 25 different city actions taken to lessen the nuisance dangers officials found on 16 different properties.
It did not include a newly-reported problem of the roof over the porch at 108 Jackson St. appearing to be ready to fall from the house because of rotting around a supporting iron post.
The properties listed in the lawsuit are:
101 Jackson St. - $120, reinstalling a plywood cover over the basement window on April 14.
105 Jackson St. - $1,921.50 for installing and, later, reinstalling plywood coverings and cutting down a dead tree on four different dates.
108 Jackson St. - $1,365, boarding up windows and doors and removing brush, vines and weeds on three different dates.
104 and 108 Jackson St. - $140, reinstalling plywood covers over bottom floor windows on April 14.
114 Jackson St. - $275, removing brush, vines and weeds on Aug. 12, 2014.
109 Adams St. - $360, boarding up windows and doors on Jan. 23, 2014.
111 Adams St. - $17,000, building demolition on Oct. 27, 2014.
113 Adams St. - $445, boarding up windows and doors and painting the wood on Jan. 17, 2014.
405 E. Capitol Ave. - $130, reinstalling a plywood door cover on April 14.
414 E. Capitol Ave. - $970, boarding up windows and doors and painting the wood on Jan. 17, 2014.
419 E. Capitol Ave. - $485, boarding up windows and doors on March 14, 2014.
429 E. Capitol Ave. - $1,220, boarding up windows and doors and painting the wood and removing brush, vines and weeds on two different dates.
511 E. Capitol Ave. - $110, reinstalling a plywood door cover on April 14.
517 E. Capitol Ave. - $630, cutting, trimming and cleaning up the back yard; removing broken tree limbs overhanging a public sidewalk and hauling away the debris on two different dates.
519 E. Capitol Ave. - $975, cutting and trimming the yard, boarding up the house and painting the wood, then reinstalling a plywood door cover on two different dates.
417 E. Parsons Way - $325, removing brush, vines and weeds on Aug. 12, 2014.