Bristol City Manager Randy Eads demanded Tuesday that the owner of the former Virginia Intermont College campus take action within 15 days to improve and secure the burned-out and long-vacant property or the city will pursue “legal remedies.”
In a posting on the city’s website, Eads said he issued a “compliance ultimatum” to the owner, U.S. Magis International, which he said needs to hire licensed professionals, secure the property and mow the grounds.
On July 16, Eads sent a letter to Magis and its Bristol attorney, John Kieffer, giving them 30 days to respond with a written blight abatement plan outlining how they plan to deal with the issues at the site within a reasonable time frame.
In a letter to Eads sent Monday, the deadline for the plan, Kieffer said that fencing erected by the city solved the shorter-term objective of securing the property, but the longer-term objective, remediation and reconstruction of the site, can’t be resolved in 30 days.
The city manager wasn’t happy with the response, saying it did not provide a timeline for remediation work to begin or end.
“Unfortunately, I believe this is another delay tactic by your client to attempt to absolve itself from any responsibility,” he said in the letter.
City officials have been trying for years to get Magis, which is based in China, to improve and secure the 37-acre downtown property, which has deteriorated, been vandalized and become a haven for the homeless. Last December, a massive fire burned down four of the college’s five original buildings.
The city demolished the structures and much of the site is now rubble. It has also mowed the property and secured it with gates, locks and fencing.
Magis purchased the site in 2016, two years after Virginia Intermont closed. A plan to develop a business college at the site was announced by Magis, and some steps were taken, but it never opened.
After working with state legislators to pass a new state law dealing with blighted properties with unpaid real property taxes, the city petitioned the circuit court in July to allow it to take control of the property. City officials, who under the new law would no longer have to sell the property at auction to the highest bidder, hoped to find a developer for the site.
The next day, however, city leaders were surprised when Magis paid current and back taxes totaling $605,000. The city withdrew the action.
Kieffer said in July that Magis considers the new law unconstitutional and will legally challenge its use. He also said the company still plans to establish a business college at the site.
Last week, the city council gave final approval to an ordinance dealing with unsafe and blighted properties. It authorizes the council to require property owners to remove, repair or secure any building, wall or other structure that might endanger the public’s health and safety.
The ordinance, which applies to all blighted properties in the city, also states that the city can impose a fine up to $1,000 per day if property owners fail to comply.
Eads said the city’s most recent letter to Magis “underscores public safety concerns and the need for accountability.”
In his Tuesday reply to Kieffer’s letter, Eads said Magis needs to complete the following steps in 15 days, or the city will file a lawsuit against the company to obtain a court order requiring it to do so:
- Hire a licensed architect and structural engineer to meet with a city building official to review the site and begin an analysis of what it would take to bring the buildings into compliance with the city building code.
- Hire a landscaper to mow the property at least once a month between April and October.
- Hire a security company to staff the property 24 hours a day.
Within 30 days, the architect and engineer must provide a timeline for when steps to address the problems at the site will begin and end, Eads said in the letter.
