Judge: “This thing needs to be resolved”

The judge in Oconee Common Pleas Court, on his way home tonight, will stop in downtown Seneca to have a look for himself at a building over which the city and the owner have been quarreling for about five years.  During a hearing this afternoon, Judge Cordell Maddox said he is concerned about the potential danger presented by the building which wraps around N. Depot Street, between the blocks of Main and North First streets.  Seneca and its attorneys and the Rev. Efford Haynes and his new attorney went before the judge for a hearing on the city’s request for the appointment of a receiver to handle assets belonging to the elderly Haynes.  Maddox suggested the parties agree to the selection of Anderson attorney Mike Glenn, provided Glenn would be willing.  At issue are the proceeds from a court-ordered insurance settlement which Seneca attorney Lane Davis argues should be placed toward the repairs or the demolition of the building.  Monday has been selected as the day that the Haynes family open the building to allow Seneca representatives a walk-thru and the chance for them to point out to the Haynes the exact conditions that the city believes make the building a danger to the public.