Portions of roads shut in Monterey due to collapsed building

With a new building inspector recently appointed, the Monterey Town Council called for his assistance in regards to the downtown collapsed building. 
According to Monterey Town Councilman Doug Denton, Pulaski County Building Inspector Doug Hoover recently viewed the collapsed Sportsman’s Bar and Grill and declared it a safety hazard. 
The building collapsed on April 23, 2015, and was torn partially down for safety reasons. Since then little has been done with it because the property owner, Courtney Hardin, appears to be unreachable.
After the building collapsed, the county attempted to contact the owner and she was fined for not cleaning up the area. 
On Feb. 20, Denton said Hoover visited the site and shut down a portion of Main and Walnut streets. 
In an email to the paper, Denton said, “We are hoping that this will be the first step in a fast and speedy resolution to the problem here in Monterey.” 
On Feb. 25, Denton sent an email to the county attorney Kevin Tankersley stating that the portion of the building that is still standing is deteriorating and could be a safety hazard. 
Denton said the yellow tape and white board around the building do not make a fence and he recently chased children from the site. Denton said the closing of the roads also needs to be addressed in case of an emergency. 
Tankersley replied back to Denton with the same information he has said during previous commissioners’ meetings and in other meetings. 
He said the county has acted within the scope of what can be done. Although the county has acted as the hearing authority it does not mean that the county has to pay for the mess to be fixed. It simply means that the commissioners fined the landowners because of code violations. 
In an email on Feb. 27, Denton said the town council is following protocol and “aggressively” working to find a solution.