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Neighbors ask for Bruce Lake home to be condemned

Sunday, July 7, 2024 at 8:22 AM

By Wes Dehne

Neighbors of a dilapidated home off Bruce Lake say its beyond time that it be condemned.

Ed and Teresa Mollencupp appealed to county commissioners last week to have such action taken at 990 N. Madison St., Kewanna. They live across the street from the property and were joined by another concerned neighbor, Phil Watterson. 

The Mollencupps believe that the former residents, evicted in December, were using and selling methamphetamine at the home. They say it took them five years to destroy the three-bedroom home, with a custom fireplace family room and garage.

"There's no furnace, they busted the well, they tore out the stairway that went to the basement, all the supporting walls are down and the whole back end is open to a field," Teresa said, adding that there's also a huge piece of foundation missing. "We're very concerned about squatters and animals."

Teresa noted that there's also a personal connection to the home. 

"My husband was born and raised in this house," she said. "His parents lived there for 60 years."

Ed's parents eventually sold the home to some friends of theirs, who sold it a year later.

"It's just a mess," Teresa said of the home. "It's directly next to our neighbor Phil, it's across the street from my husband and I and other neighbors are also very concerned."

The Mollencupps initially contacted the sheriff's department with concerns about drug activity at the home while it was still occupied. 

"You don't do a poker game in 15 minutes," Ed said of vehicles coming in and out all the time.

The Mollencupps then followed up with the Fulton County Health Department and Area Plan Commission, which has reportedly sent three letters to the current owner, Newrez LLC, doing business as Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing out of Greenville, S.C.

The company purchased the property in a sheriff's sale last November. 

"We're concerned as everyone else about the blight, and the owners are doing nothing," Teresa said, adding that sewer liens filed against the property by the Bruce Lake Conservancy District also are not being paid.

Commissioners, referring to County Attorney Holli Shorter-Pifer, did not believe they could issue a condemnation order for the home and referred the Mollencupps back to the area plan commission. 

The health department's Wyatt Dyson said he had not received a meth report on the home, but could follow-up with another complaint investigation. 

"It sounds like it's gotten worse," he said, recalling the original complaint on the property.

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