Rison Gives Mayor Permission To Buy Downtown Building

RISON - The Rison City Council gave Mayor Charles Roberts permission Tuesday night to possibly buy the former Cash AG Grocery building in downtown Rison in order to tear it down to remove what has become an eyesore. In addition, Roberts also said he wanted to begin looking at condemning properties within the city that are not up to code in yet another effort to clean up the city.That and other business was addressed during the Rison City Council’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday at Rison City Hall.Roberts told the council that the city can buy the old Cash Grocery building for what is owed against it in property taxes, which is currently $449.95 according the Arkansas Land Commission office.During the May city council meeting, Roberts brought up the idea buying the building since the current property owner is not in a financial position to clean it up. He pointed out that the city would be eligible for grants to pay for cleaning it up where a private individual would not.While the council approved Councilman Rodney Reed’s motion to give the mayor permission to buy the building “at his discretion,” Roberts said he wanted to check again on what funding will be available for taking down and cleaning up the building should he move forward with the purchase.Roberts told the council that he received a text message from the owner of the property, Heidi Cash, agreeing to give the building to the city as long as it would remove her from any liability with the property.“Guys, if we (the city) don’t do it, no one else is,” the mayor told the council. “It’s terrible.”“I would like to see the city do something positive there,” Roberts added.While the Cash Grocery building has been vacant for several years, the building has fallen into serious disrepair over the past year. The roof is now completely collapsed and there have been concerns about the structural integrity of the building as well as wha...