Washington’s City Council, during its meeting Monday, will consider authorizing the demolition of the house at 309 W. Fifth St.

City officials, including senior building inspector Allen Pittman and John Rodman, the city’s director of community and cultural resources, consider the building unsafe. They recommend the city award the contract to demolish the building, if it is condemned, to Dudley Landscaping, which submitted the low bid of  $5,200 to tear down the building.

Other bids were made by St. Clair Trucking ($6,000) and Tyler Williams ($7,200).

The circa 1930 house, according to a city document, does not meet minimum standards of maintenance, sanitation and safety. The city contends the owner(s) of the building received a reasonable opportunity to bring the building into compliance with minimum housing and building standards.

A complaint about the building was made May 27, 2009. A hearing on the matter was conducted Dec. 19, 2014, with the order to demolish the building issued that same day. The time period allowed for responding to the order expired Feb. 17.

If the building is demolished, the city will sell usable materials from the building. Any expenses incurred by the city related to demolishing the building will be a lien against the property on which the building sat, according to the city document.

The demolition-by-neglect ordinance is used by the city to keep historically and/or architecturally significant properties from deteriorating to the point they cannot be saved by rehabilitation measures.

The city has condemned and demolished several buildings in recent years. Efforts to save and restore some of those buildings have met with mixed results. A house on Water Street was condemned, but the city, after a public outcry, rescinded that condemnation so it could be restored and renovated. The house behind Tattoo Rich was demolished after attempts to save it failed.

The council meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Council Chambers in the Municipal Building, 102 E. Second St. To view the council’s agenda for a specific meeting, visit the city’s web­site at www.washingtonnc.gov, click “Government” then “City Council” heading, then click “Meeting Agendas” on the menu to the right. Then click on the date for the appropriate agenda.