Adjacent Property Owner to Downtown Newton Derecho Damaged Building Speaks to City Council

The Derecho Damaged building at 209 West 2nd Street North in downtown Newton was brought up again…at last night’s Newton City Council meeting. Kelly Koenen of Koenen Properties LLC owns the adjacent building at 207 West 2nd Street North. She spoke to the Council about a rumor.  

Keonen added that in February…after a letter went out…the City’s cooperation level seemed to change.  

Keonen got emotional as she asked to work together with the City to get this issue resolved. She referred to the damaged building as a thorn in the community that has been around long enough.

In October…the end of the 3 year court battle to get the damaged building torn down seemed close to an end, as  the City Council unanimously approved an agreement with the building’s owner Jeremy Chedester.  At the time…City Attorney Matthew Brick said the building was to be taken down by a licensed company at the owner’s expense. 

That was Brick speaking last October. Obviously the February court hearing date has past and the damaged building is still standing. The August 2020 Derecho ripped the brick off the front of the 2nd story, leaving it exposed to the outside. Since then, the building directly south of Bank Iowa has been fenced off to the public. Once the building is gone….Brick says the cleared lot will be given to the City for free.