Imalegal/ ...what?

Sandman/ The city can't act until the end. This is called free enterprise, the owner has the right to do what he/she wants with their property until through neglect it becomes blighted and unsafe. If the building had been occupied something could and would have been done sooner, but because it wasn't, all kinds of laws and redtape protect the irresponsible owners. Look at the Grafft properties, the Monterey Hotel will have to literally fall over before anything can be done about that.

A sad end to a local historical monument, but frankly...good riddance to the building and the long line of schemers and idiots who have hitched their wagons to the cause of restoring this dilapidated eyesore at public expense, usually with the sole purpose of self-aggrandizing.
Perhaps in a real city operated by people with some degree of vision we might have acted earlier and saved this landmark back when it was salvageable. But then this is Janesville (NOTE: this says it all--the word "Janesville" registers as a possible misspelling on the Gazette website's own spellchecker!), and the best we can do here is wait until things start falling apart before we take action, only to have the local grandstanding loonies start chirping like annoying grackles on an early summer morning.
So anyway, now that we've started on the SW corner of the Forth Ward-hood, why stop? Keep on demolishing the blight until we get those trashed apartment buildings just N and E of Main and Racine Streets. Now that would be real urban renewal!

Mytransams/ Apparently the city workers were asked to salvage the Case Feed signs by a council member. The council member felt that IF the building owner didn't want the signs, the city should preserve them as part of Janesville's history. Where they would be displayed, I don't know.

I can picture a full size. poorly done, chain saw carved, wood rendition of KAB standing at the corner of Rockport and Centerway. Candles lit, small replicas of the carriage barn and Case Feed at her feet. She would be wearing a hat. (sigh)

Frogger/ I agree, you were only stating what everyone already knows.

I see you don't agree with my comment she needs to get a job or a different hobby.

Fact- that IS one of her nicknames!!

Oldvet/ I wasn't talking about the city blacklisting someone associated with KAB, I was talking about the rest of the citizens of Janesville. When anyone takes up with a known troublemaker, their reputation is harmed. If you are agreeing with someone who's statements are false, ideas unrealistic, behavior bizarre, and agenda malicious - you lose credibility. I know that residents avoid KAB. Organizations and causes have said no to KAB's endorsement, citizens have said they were embarassed when she sat next to them, and no one wants to be seen talking to her. Yes it is sad, she seems to have some health issues that she is reluctant to address and this has caused her to lose much in her life. I hope there is someone who can get through to her for her own well being.

TJRockcounty said this: "Put your real name out there as one of her buddies and watch how quickly you are blacklisted in Janesville."

This is probably one of the reasons why Ms Briarmoon and others DO have a fight with City hall. Some people believe that The previous city Manager actually did have such a "list".

A very sad comment TJRockcounty.....Sad indeed.

TJrockcounty if that is your real name.My name is Donovan Fischer so now you can Ccap me.so have fun with that. Let me make my point clear.I could care less about KAB and her cause.My point is the city eather has a right to salvage or they don't.From what i am reading they have no rights to salvage anything so why did they remove the sign? Really did my tax money go to pay for a city worker to remove the sign for the owners or does the city plan on stealing it? Frogger do I have proof that she pays taxes? If she spends money she pays taxes..food? gas? court fees? Think before you type next time...

The city has an agenda of homes and buildings they want to demolish for one reason or another. Whether it be for safety purposes or for cleaning up a neighborhood to get rid of drug dealer houses etc.....what the city wants the city will get, one way or another. I still say the crazy lady may have a point......

What if the building or part of the building clasped and seriously hurt or killed someone? What would the comments be? The building was a danger and something had to be done. The owners didn't seem to have any interest in doing anything. Briarboon just wanted an excuse to spout off.

As TJRockCounty says, it's exactly her style to file at the last minute rather than in an orderly fashion. The entire purpose is to create the maximum adversarial situation possible. Most property owners would proceed by asking what their options are, what they need to do to salvage what they want, when the actual demolition is, and so forth. None of this was done, even though it's a normal part of the process.
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Several people have referred to the "demo company". There was no contractor. The razing was performed by city employees and equipment.
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Also, Briarmoon is NOT a "Realtor". That is a privately owned trademark with its own requirements. She is licensed as a real estate broker with the state. At some point (around 18-24 months back) her status was suspended because she had been let go from a company and was not supervised, but she has apparently resolved that and operates independently.
http://online.drl.wi.gov/LicenseLookup/C...

Flynski 2 hours ago

Oh please, the owners had more than enough time to salvage whatever they wished. Now it is an issue on how to waste more time and money and has nothing to do with salvage. Maybe if Briarmoon kept her properties in good condition she wouldnt have to keep fighting and whining about the city tearing down her unsafe pigsty buildings. Andrea if you are so concerned about Janesville and rights then what about the neighbors living next to your indecent properties. Be a good citizen and good neighbor and fix up your properties then go on TV or run for City Council and we might think you are more than a clown. Tear down the building and haul it away and let the " owners " go to the landfill to pick up bricks all they want. Janesville let's be done with this.
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If you gave her a penny for her thoughts, you'd get change.

lock her up.

KAB always files legal claims after the 11th hour. It's her way of extending the attention, costing the city more money and costing the taxpayers more money. You could set your watch to her ineffective methods.

crazy people do goofy things like this.

Also, never seen her show, but her website reminds me of the Unibomber's manifesto. No real focus and legal claims filed after the 11th hour.

Ok- let's see here. She was the Realtor that assisted the sale, correct? So once the Title was transferred and her fee paid, her interest in the property was over.
She must have sold with a disclosure. I don't understand WHY the purchase was made in the first place- did the buyer do it as a favor to KAB? Because NO BUSINESS in their right mind would have purchased such a liability unless it was for a demo project, or was there no inspection? Since there have been no statements by the owner, we can only guess.

My guess as to why the demolisher did not salvage was the the cost of restoration would have been greater than the cost of the materials. If they could have made a profit, they would have. To the landfill it goes- the only question will be if the rubble will sit over winter due to KAB's lawsuit. Which, I don;t understand her motive, as she is working for an owner with a history of no interest or responsibility.

i am glad it didn't fall on anyone before they sacked it.

I think TJRockCounty revealed the saddest fact of all: "Put your real name out there as one of her buddies and watch how quickly you are blacklisted in Janesville."
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It's troublesome to think that the city has a BLACKLIST and if you don't tow the line you will be on it but there you have it.

oldvet, she could've gotten a piece of pizza, she touched every piece on the table before leaving without taking one!

Did I mention in a blog about this it will come down to a big KAB spectacle.
BLa , BLa Bla the city is out to get me.

NO- AGAIN you don't follow rules and this is what happens.

Did you EVER tell the owners of the fix or repair orders?
I hope this is sent directly from the city to owner and make he sign for the letters for proof he received!

ps- you cannot do whatever the h... you want to because you pay taxes(or not). You need to abide by laws and codes! SIMPLE enough a nut should be able to figure it out!

mytransam".KAB has the right to fight the city on anything she wishes she pays taxes to"

Do you have PROOF of her paying taxes!!!!!!!!

Mikki, you need to quit cutting on people from Beloit. Believe it or not, some Janesville people live in Beloit as do some of the posters on here. I know you were trying to be funny, but it gets old fast!

"K. Andreah Briarmoon halted the removal of debris Wednesday ......."


EXACTLY! NOT THE OWNER. Another stunt as many of us agreed on the other blog. FREAK. MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS ALREADY!

Every village has one.
She's ours.
Perhaps we could arrange a trade. I'd even take someone from Beloit. I'd take 3!

Mytransams/ Then rush right to KAB's web site and join her cause. Put your real name out there as one of her buddies and watch how quickly you are blacklisted in Janesville. If you really agree with her, stand with her and watch what happens to your reputation. I bet you never do.

TJ,
I've seen that show late at night and it is pretty alarming the number of inaccuracies and downright factual errors. It's like an hour long rant. Only another comes out about a week later.

Ezoner/ Again let me state: The city was the company that demolished the building. The city cannot salvage, give away, or sell any materials from the building because they do not own it. The city acted as the demolition agent only because the building had become blighted and a public safety risk. The owner had let the building deteriorate to the point that the cost of repair wasn't feasible to potential buyers. He could not sell it, did not want to repair it, and did not choose to have a private company demolish the building. The city gave him ample time to make a decision before they had to step in and eliminate the safety risk. The city then charges the owner for the demolition. It is tacked onto the property tax bill. If it is not paid by the owner, the property goes into foreclosure for back taxes and is sold in a sheriffs sale.

Everyone in Janesville knows she is one major nutcase. If she is an example of what Janesville is made up of, we should not allow visitors from other places here! What a whack job! She does these things just to get attention. I have an idea, KAB, get a boyfriend (maybe one from the homeless shelter,than she can build and repair him!). He can occupy her time so she shuts up and quits causing chaos all over town!!!

I disagree with about everybody on this one.KAB has the right to fight the city on anything she wishes she pays taxes to. Futher more why would the city remove the sign and nothing else? They shouldn't walk both sides of the fence.Don't get me wrong but do you that the owners are going to think Thanks for saving the sign before you smashed my building.

What I cannot believe is that the company responsible for the Demo saw no value in the bricks or other items that may be of value. In a building that ols I am certain that some of the materials may have had value. Maybe not, but in allot of cases I would have expected the demo firm that bid on the demo to have wanted to recoup value from the materils.

Oldvet/ Have YOU listened to KAB more carefully? Watch her manic tv show on JATV, 1 hour of her talking, making up stories about the city government employees that didn't happen, telling citizens they have the right to do things that they don't. Twisting laws, codes and procedures that aren't in existence. Just an hour of lies. She is so far off into another world (hers) it's like watching a train wreck. If you really admire her, you would buy her a pizza and get her some psychiatric help.

Andreah Briarmoon ROCKS!!! She is always causing turmoil with the city, if the rest of us had half of her drive for public involvment, maybe politicians wouldn't own all of us! VOTE FOR ANDREAH!

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No matter what one thinks of MS Briarmoon, I'll bet the city of Janesville wishes she were on their side rather than fighting them. This is nothing more than what she would probably call "paybacks" for what she feels (rightly or wrongly) that the city did to her. She also recently caused them trouble by not paying property taxes and then filing bankruptcy. Some of her seized property has already been re-sold for cheap (to a "friend" of hers?) on the courthouse steps. It is said you cannot fight city hall but she is doing a pretty good job of it.
Maybe they should listen to her more carefully? and maybe next time she asks for a piece of pizza, they should give her a piece?

I really admire the posts here, lots of factual information, good questions, and fair summaries of the situation. I really don't understand why and how KAB can file an appeal, make demands, and go before the city on this property when she is not the owner? Can someone tell me how this works?

Briarloon is nothing more than an opportunist. She doesn't care about anything but the spotlight. Any RESPONSIBLE Realtor would have advised their client that they need to respond to the city's notices. But Briarloon thinks that she doesn't have to follow any rule she didn't make or doesn't like. To her rules are nothing more than something to exploit so that she can be in the spotlight at the expense of tax payers.

Serious question - has her real estate license ever been challenged, have her outrageous practices as an agent ever been investigated? I have to say that if I was interested in buying a property and she was the agent I'd run away screaming.

I'm sad to see that building go too. I'm a big supporter of historic preservation. But geez! The Case building was obviously in dangerous condition and the city did everything they could to let the owners fix it or sell it to someone who would fix it. But the reality was that the costs were more than it was worth. Oops! I mentioned reality. Briarloon is not in touch with any reality but her own.

KAB can't even manage her own properties and she's a licensed realtor. Why would anyone want her involved in their property matters? They had PLENTY of time and more than one notice. Haul the rubble away ASAP!

The seller didn’t respond to two city-imposed deadlines to fix the building, beginning with a raze-or-repair order in October and a second deadline in June. Staff during that time worked with two potential buyers, but neither could get financing or figure out a way for the project to be financially viable.
Briarmoon charged Wednesday that the city did not give proper notice to the owner when workers demolished the building Tuesday. She said the bricks are worth money because they can be used for other historical renovation projects.

Sounds like the owner was given more than sufficient notice(s) on this building. KAB is just once again waging her own personal war with the city, and once again she appears to the general public as nothing more than a crazy person! It's reallyy too bad to because even if she was the most qualified person running for public office its these little wars of her's that insures that she will never be elected to anything.....

I hear there is a yard they can put the bricks for her. There used to be a carriage barn there.
What if she really is right, and he got his peanut butter on her chocolate????

DJ, and wiexguy, lead paint is reasonably safe when it's static on a wall. It's when demolition/removal occurs that the dust is created. Abatement was performed by spraying a firehose at the debris as it came down. Now that it's on the ground it isn't a hazard either, as long as it's fenced off. It's lead -- it just sits there. It's not radiation (or germs).
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Lead hazards are much better understood than when we were kids. Even a single ingestion of lead paint chips by a child can have long-lasting effects on their personality and learning ability. This year the EPA put out much more stringent rules for contractors, and everyone should be aware of this if they have work done on a house with any existing construction done prior to 1978.
http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/renovation....
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garyprimer, right now her appeal is simply before the Zoning Board. It's not yet a civil lawsuit, but knowing her, she'll try to go that route despite having no success last time. The city cannot be sued for damages except (simplifying a tricky area of the law) in the case of gross negligence outside the bounds of their duties by city employees. The owner would need to show that the city was aware, for example, that the building was structurally sound and did not merit razing. Given the extraordinary efforts by the city to actually work with the owner and with interested third parties to strike a deal, that's not going to fly.
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avidreader has the most salient points here. It's very frustrating to have KAB on your side of an issue because she does everything wrong or at the last minute or in such a way that everyone becomes alienated. As an historic preservationist, had I been in her position as broker, there are about 15 different ways this could have proceeded that would have had a much better chance of saving the building; and of course I would be honest and say that if everything had been tried, it was time. Mostly, though, things should have been done between 2003 and 2007, which was a fantastically ... elastic ... lending environment when development interest in Janesville remained vibrant. Not taking advantage of those choice years cost the building its life.

"You may not always agree with her, but shes involved!" Well...that's one way of saying it.

It's the other way around.

Too little, too late. But,if she can convince a judge that this was handled improperly, her client could sue for a big settlement, maybe the $250,000 asking price. Stranger things have happened. I hope that the city attorneys have their ducks all in a row. Poor Andrea, trouble always seems to find her... or is it the other way around?

All the bricks should go to KAB because she is definately a few bricks shy. wiexguy, there is a difference between getting involved, and getting in the way. Why didn't she get more involved with her client when they were ignoring the orders and deadlines. I agree with Price, if they wanted the bricks then they should have demolished the property themselves. If it was such a concern, then why, on the day they were demolishing the building, instead of making an idiot of herself on camera, didn't she call her client and tell them to get their butts down there and deal with it?

Have you ever seen a child with lead poisoning? WIC tests children at ages 1 & 2 for lead. Being around the paint isn't a problem. It's when it gets into the lungs or mouth. Especially children. I'm not trying to over react. I think a lot of the lead/asbestos fear IS over the top. But I think it is a legitimate question. If I were to do something like that, I would probably be required to take extra precautions. Just saying.

I grew up with lead paint all around me and I'm fine. People are getting silly regarding lead paint. I'm guessing one encounters more germs when touching a grocery cart. People may think KAB is a loon, but she keeps the city on their toes. We need more people like her. Get involved people! You may not always agree with her, but shes involved! All you sideline quarterbacks who complain while shes at least doing something! If I go to the site and take a brick am I breaking the law? I really want one.

If someone wants the debris, let them take it. Their properties can be condemned as hazardous because of the lead based paint and asbestos there.

Were lead abatement procedures followed when they tore down the building? They say the debris is hazardous because the bricks are (probably) covered with lead paint. But if that's the case, lead dust and particles would have been released into the air when they tore down the building. Also, what's to stop lead (or other) contaminants from blowing around now? I think they should have done this earlier in the summer so it could have been cleaned up before school started.

I saw the shrine today. There are bricks stacked, and a few bouquets of flowers there too. The woman is a loon. She needs to stop spending the tax payers money just for her sick and annoying need for attention.

Joe Schmo, Are you serious? All I can say is wow. A shrine to offer condolences? For a building? Really? I missed something with that much comedy? I'd have been rolling with laughter.

amazing how you can make these comments about KAB and they don't get removed. I commented on an article the gazette printed about KAB and I got removed. It was about THEIR article and nothing personal and it got removed.

YEAH - What she said!

I would love to hear an interview with KAB. How on earth can she say with a straight face that this issue has not been fairly handled and with timely notification? This has been beat like a dead horse for months yet she acts surprised and caught off guard. As for the owner to not respond to two notifications, I wonder if they were taking advice from their Realtor? I think the city is being more fair than they need to be by halting further site clearing. Any city but Janesville would have told KAB to take a hike by now. She's a bully and a loud mouth and we as a city take her crap over and over.

If you want a brick, go over there and pick one up.

I have a friend who works at Bad Brad's who said she was out there all day yesterday harrassing the workers and the cops were there multiple times. She went on the other side of the fence and took a bunch of bricks. Then she began building a "shrine" so that if people wanted to come by and say their condolences they could.

yea, what if she is right? and what if this was your bldg? Also- How can I get a brick? I want one. someone email me

What if she's right?

Looks like the owners wanted the city to pay for the razing of the building so they could make a profit on the "parts". Make them pay the city before they can have it.

Here she goes, costing the City ( and the rest of us) money to defend itself. They gave plenty of notice to the owners who chose not to respond. IF she was the responsible realtor she claims to be, she would have made sure the owners responded to the city orders. Its over...like the headline said "Case Closed"

The city should set a strict deadline & if nothing is done, they should finish the job.

Just go away already.