The seven tenants of a building found to be uninhabitable earlier this month in Jefferson City have all found new places to live.
Meanwhile, another inspection of the property Friday afternoon found work still needed to be done to make the property safe for people to live in.
City inspector Dave Helmick met with property owner Barbara Buescher at her 202 Marshall St. building Friday and noted primary work on the plumbing in the building had been done, and a plumbing inspector was satisfied with the work.
"However, there is still sanitation issues, trash, bugs, urine, roaches that all need to be cleaned out, and there's a large hole in the ceiling that needs to be fixed," he said.
Three of the units were occupied at the time the building was found uninhabitable, and three were unoccupied.
"Ms. Buescher said it was her intention to continue making repairs and was working with electricians and roofers to address the other violations," Helmick said. "She is very aware the building will stay unoccupied until the city reviews what she has done. We'll verify that no one is living there and then will follow up periodically. She will have to get permits for all the work she'll have to do so that will let us know how things are progressing.
"It will probably take several weeks to get everything done. It's already been a month since we first got word of the problems, and little has been done. We've also been dealing with significant exterior issues on the building for quite a while."
The city issued a letter May 12 to Buescher about the interior problems at the property.
"A tenant had contacted us with concerns, which is typically why we would do an inspection," Jefferson City Neighborhood Services Manager Jayme Abbott said. "We also found there had been a lack of trash service. We saw trash bags piled up outside, and Republic Trash Service officials notified us. The tenant invited us to look inside the building, and we found two units just being used for trash storage."
Abbott said they provide letters to landlords to let them know the city has been notified of problems, and they have 30 days to take action.
"In a typical process, we do reach out to landlords, but in this situation, it was just too extreme that it went directly to a violation," Abbott said. "We don't know how long the problems at Marshall Street had been there."
Currently, Abbott said, the city doesn't have a program to inspect rental units to ensure they meet code and housing standards. Columbia has a program, and Jefferson City officials are looking to develop one.
"It's situations like this that make us want to look at these types of programs," she said. "We have had other situations like what happened on Marshall Street. A year ago we had the property at 415 E. Ashley St. where 60 cats were pulled out. We've seen some properties where toilets flushed directly into the basement."
As far as whether Buescher, as the landlord in this case, is under any financial obligation to tenants who had to vacate, Abbott said it is a legal issue between the owner and tenants, and the city has no involvement.