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Hurricane Harvey cleanup in Aransas Pass nearly complete after 5 1/2 years

Resident Leslie McElroy told 3NEWS that she's glad the city is doing something about a nearby eyesore home, which has just deteriorated more every year.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Since Hurricane Harvey hit the Coastal Bend in 2017, 130 structures have been demolished around Aransas Pass. 

One home along 10th Street is set to be the next structure to be demolished.

Aransas Pass was one of many cities in the Coastal Bend that suffered heavy damage from Hurricane Harvey. City manager Gary Edwards said that even though the demolition was brought on by a natural disaster -- there's still a twofold benefit.

"To clean up the town and to help with the recovery," he said.

Edwards explained that cleanup and recovery from the devastating storm is now at least 95 percent complete. 

Federal dollars helped in that effort, but the city also pitched in. 

"It started to finally budget for the demolition of unsafe structures around town that the feds wouldn’t pay to have done," he said. "(The total has) gone from virtually nothing to well over $100,000." 

Edwards said the process to demolish an abandoned structure takes time and a lot of research, along with plenty of cross-checking. 

The rundown home on 10th Street is supposed to be torn down later this month. That, after the city spent years trying to find the owner. 

Aransas Pass resident and neighboring homeowner Leslie McElroy told 3NEWS that she would have liked to have seen the home demolished years ago.

"It’s right there by a school," she said. "Come on -- it’s just ugly. Just make our community look better. I'd just get rid of it already." 

Dennis Peacock was happy to hear about the demolition, but understands the work the city has to do in order to begin the demolition process.

"It’s very unfortunate that it has lasted so long," he said. "But, there was confusion. There’s a lot of it. People intended to do the right thing, but the problem is there’s too many things to do."

While the city does have to pay to tear down a building a lot of times, that's not always the case. A site off of Business Hwy. 35 as you enter town from Rockport is a prime example. 

The structure that was there was impacted by Hurricane Harvey, and once the owner was found, they agreed to pay to have it torn down. 

As for the costs the city will have to eat, Edwards believes the city's plans to demolish more structures in the future will lead to Aransas Pass city officials setting aside more money to accomplish that goal.

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