© WTOVThe city of Martins Ferry is working to repair another sinkhole after a house collapsed into one last weekend.
The city of Martins Ferry is working to repair another sinkhole after a house collapsed into one last weekend.
Earlier, a
sinkhole emerged on 8th Street, and while the city has been busy working on acquiring funding to fix that hole, an empty house collapsed on another lot just before Christmas.
Harry Miller lives next to the house that sunk in during the weekend. During the past 6 years, he's watched the ground below it slowly fall away.
"Oh it's been unreal," he said. "You never know when your house is going to fall in. I don't know what ours is doing "The house is vacant after the city acquired it in a settlement nearly 2 years ago. Repairs were initially attempted when the problem first started, but nothing seemed to work. Now the city must fill the gaps.
"Under emergency situation, we have to tear that house down," Martins Ferry Mayor Robert Krajnyak said. "After the house is gone, repairs will be made to the culvert that's there."
"They have to fix it someway, otherwise it's going to keep washing out," Miller said.
Krajnyak says despite neighbor's concerns, he doesn't' think the hole poses a risk to surrounding homes.
They're in the process of securing funding to fix it. However, there won't be any buildings on the lot in the foreseeable future. He says the lot will be sold as a side lot.
They're moving along quickly in the grant process, and Krajnyak says he's feeling pretty positive about it.
Comment: To learn more on what's behind the increase in sinkholes, see our SOTT focus article on the topic: Sinkholes: The groundbreaking truth