By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A Marion man threatened with demolition of a house owned by his mother finally has a list of work the city wants him to do.

But the phrasing of the list has left him confused.

“A government official?” Donald Wilson told council members Tuesday. “If I turned something in like this, I’d be sent for a drug and alcohol evaluation.”

Wilson says he has been working on the house for months, only to have city officials leaving him hanging on further improvements he needs to make.

There may not be a resolution until March 4 — if then.

Wilson got a punch list Feb. 7 from city inspector James Masters — after city council members told Masters a second time to provide one.

Wilson appeared at a council meeting Feb. 5 to say Masters still had not given him a list of things Masters wanted done.

Wilson brought copies of Masters’s letter to Tuesday’s meeting and said he could not understand what Masters was saying.

One portion of the letter said Wilson needed to put a 30-foot foundation under a porch, and the depth would need to be inspected.

City councilman Kevin Burkholder said he thought Masters meant 30 inches.

“If there is a genuine confusion as to what is meant, make sure you address this to Mr. Masters,” Mayor Mike Powers said.

Masters listed other steps in his letter to Wilson.

“Overhang that used to be the steps leading to the second floor was to be supported by the porch that has been demolished. The overhang will need to be supported by posts attached to a 30-inch foundation/pier. Depth of foundation will require an (sic) inspection,” the letter states.

The letter continues that the roof and soffit need repaired and all rocks, concrete, lumber, demolition, and any other items that would violate city code must be removed.

The house, at 202 Miller St., is owned by Wilson’s mother, Deliliah Belshe, and has been on the city’s radar screen for months.

Masters reported its condition to council members in September, saying that a set of stairs that led to a second-story door were dangerous as was an old cistern on the property.

Council members passed a resolution Oct. 16 to seek demolition bids and gave Masters until late November to report his progress to the council.

When Wilson appeared at the council meeting in November, Masters was not there.

The bids were opened Dec. 27 but not shared with council members. Masters was not at that meeting to give what was to be his final report.

Masters appeared at a meeting Jan. 8 with a report.

He was told to give Wilson a punch list of further things he wanted done to the house.

Wilson came to the council’s Feb. 5 meeting to say Masters had not given him the list.

Wilson will be back March 4 to again talk to city council members, hopefully to find out what happens next.