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Council OKs abandoned house deal

An abandoned house in Webster City is set to be taken over by the local government.

The City Council on Monday unanimously approved a deal with a mortgage company in which the city will get ownership of the house at 827 Water St. and $5,000.

The ultimate fate of the house has yet to be decided. In a report to the council, Interim City Manager Kent Harfst wrote that Building Inspector Elise Timm has checked the building and believes it can be rehabilitated.

The city filed a case in Hamilton County District Court in June, seeking to seize the house under the state’s abandoned buildings law.

In August, Carrington Mortgage Services, of Anaheim, California, offered to give the city the house and $5,000 if it drops the court case. The council on Monday agreed to that deal.

In other business Monday, the council:

• Gave final approval to zoning rules governing what fences can be made of.

• Gave final approval to a new sanitary sewer regulations that penalize industries for putting too much wastewater in the city sewers.

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