City of Sedalia Gives Building Owners 60 Days to Repair Crumbling Structures

On Wednesday, the Sedalia Board of Appeals says the owners of two structures in the 200 block of West Main Street now have 60 days to fix their buildings, or they will be torn down by the City.

Six members of the board were present at the 90-minute meeting Wednesday said that the upcoming winter months may create more problems for the buildings.

The buildings in question are owned by Dana Melton and Travis Dixon at 207 and 209 West Main.

Bids must be submitted to the city clerk’s office by 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29. The City Council is expected to approve a bid at its next meeting on Nov. 3.

The city hopes to preserve other buildings in that block that could be damaged if those two were to collapse.

Chief Building Official Bryan Kopp had determined the building at 207 West Main Street needed to be demolished to “protect the public.”

However, the owners argued that the two buildings can be saved, and also accused the city of damaging the building during sidewalk repairs that occurred three years ago.

Sedalia took legal action in July to have the building at 207 West Main Street declared a dangerous nuisance requiring demolition.

And in late July, Circuit Judge Jeff Mittelhauser ruled that the City has the authority to demolish a building within the city limits of Sedalia.

The board on Wednesday also heard arguments from Kopp, an engineer who inspected the building and a representative for the property owners on Wednesday.

Kopp argued that the owners had been notified in November 2024 that the roof of the building needed repairs, but failed to do anything about it.

"They've had ample time and if they've had any resource at all, if they wanted to repair the roof, they could have," Kopp said. "There was notification and documentation of the wall dating back at least that far."

"I personally was not able to inspect every inch because I did not feel it was safe for myself," engineer Andrus-Bearden said. "The entire wood flooring is buckling to the point that you can't even walk on it without fear of tripping, it's very squishy. Majority of that wood frame would have to be replaced to the point of being able to be usable to the public."

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The building owners' representative, Sedalia Attorney Steve Fritz, said that he hired architectural engineer Barney Schwabauer from Kansas City to inspect the building, who claims it could be saved, and asked for time to save the buildings. He argued that making any repairs to the buildings would not be feasible within 30 days.

"If you look around, I'm sure most of you know better, or at least as good as I do how many buildings in this town are in bad shape and how many have bad roofs and water just constantly gets in. That's the downside," Fritz said during the hearing. "The good side of these old buildings is they stay together and they hold up under the worst conditions. You rarely see one just come down and collapse."

After about an hour of discussion, the board ruled to give the owners 60 days to make repairs to the buildings or face demolition. One board member pointed out that Main Street traffic has been blocked for months due to the buildings’ condition.