By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — The city of Warsaw is cracking down on Mathews LLC, the company that literally walked away from the North Buffalo Street development project in Warsaw two years ago and left construction materials behind.
Developer Dave Matthews was informed recently that some of the lots he owns on Buffalo Street violated city codes because of tall grass and a large amount of construction equipment the firm left behind when the contractor — quit the city-supported multi-million redevelopment project.
Oddly enough, at the same time the city was holding a code enforcement hearing on the matter earlier this week, Matthews called the city and said he would quickly clean it up.
By Wednesday, almost all of the materials were moved into nearby garages of condos that Matthews never finished, and another pile was left in the driveway of another condo.
That didn’t sit well with Dwight Carter who recently bought the middle condo on Buffalo and moved in just a few weeks ago.
Carter said he appreciated that some progress has been made but was dismayed that they left a pile of junk adjacent to his driveway.
“Yeah, I think it’s wonderful progress, but I’m just going to keep insisting that we get to the finish line because that’s not the finish line,” Carter said with a laugh.
Code Enforcement officer Dana Hewitt said the city wants Matthews to appear at its meeting in December and explain what his plans are for the property.
He talked about the circumstances Wednesday afternoon, unaware that the materials had been moved.
“If he maintains it and mows it so it does get to three feet (tall) like it was and (removes) all of that building material, then the city is fine for right now,” Hewitt said.
Last year, the city cut ties with Matthews on a multi-use project that’s part of the overall development after Matthews gave up on the residential project and quit returning phone calls.
City officials had hoped Matthews would continue the residential work, but that remains in limbo.
