Perhaps the most controversial item on the agenda at Tuesday’s Artesia City Council meeting was the approval of a resolution to condemn three local residences.
The three residences, located on Dallas Avenue, Gage Avenue, and Kemp Avenue, have either been unoccupied, neglected, caught on fire, or some combination of the three. With councilors Kent Bratcher and Jeff Youtsey absent, the council voted to condemn all three houses.
The council stated they don’t like to condemn homes, but since there are no people living in any of the three houses, the decision was easier for them to make.
In other business Tuesday, the council approved the hiring of Eddie Fernandez as a technician for the city’s water department at a rate of pay of $2,363 per month.
During the public hearings section of the agenda, ordinances for zone changes were approved. The Roselawn Manor, located in the 800 block of South Roselawn Avenue, was rezoned from an R-2 District to a Planned Unit Development. The lots located at 901, 903, 905 and 907 S. Second St. were rezoned from an R-2 District to a C District.
