A plan to demolish blighted homes in the City of Chester, SC has hit an unexpected snag.

In January of this year, the council voted to demolish 10 of the 27 homes in the city limits considered blighted and beyond rehabilitation by the county building inspector, and take them to the dump.

“Most of them are structurally unsound,” Building Inspector Reggie McBeth said at the time.

Former City Administrator Mike Phillips said many of the houses had been reduced to nothing more than chimney's and rickety wood frames, with people pulling old wood off the structures to use for fires.

Blighted buildings were a big topic of discussion two weeks ago during the charrette. Planners spoke of the importance of getting rid of decrepit old buildings for the sake of safety, beautification and overall enhancement of the city.

Not long after deciding to knock down 10 houses, a plan to demolish and remove 10 mobile homes was also passed. Ferguson Bobcat of Union submitted the low bid of $1,470 per house.

A problem arose recently, though. The city was informed that some of the houses had lead-based paint and asbestos. The landfill will still allow Bobcat to dump the houses, but the per-ton tipping fee increases from $18 to $45.
[FONT=Verdana] [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana] [/FONT]
“That is a cost that we didn't anticipate,” Councilwoman Nancy Anderson said.[FONT=Verdana]

The city did get a bit of a break, though, as a five of the homes earmarked for demolition were torn down by their owners. Ferguson Bobcat removed two homes: one on Jeter Street, and one on 112 Lancaster Street that was damaged by a police car in a crash earlier this year.

To make up the difference, the city is having Ferguson Bobcat tear down more trailers, though the number to be torn down is not yet known.

Anderson said she anticipates the city will soon request bids for the demolition and removal of more houses. [/FONT]