Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette The Hancock City Council will decide whether to enforce the city’s dangerous buildings ordinance against vacant buildings at 501 Reservation St.

HANCOCK — The Hancock City Council will hold a hearing next month to decide whether to enforce the city’s dangerous buildings ordinance on two buildings determined to be in violation.

The council voted 5-0 to schedule a hearing of findings for 5:30 p.m. July 12 for two properties” the church at 501 Reservation St. and the former Masonic Temple building at 228 Hancock St.

“I would like you to schedule this opportunity to bring the owners in again, because I would really love to be able to work with the owners to have the issues rectified rather than go through and take any physical actions by the city,” City Manager Mary Babcock said.

Show cause hearings on the two buildings took place Monday morning. Information was sent to the owners by certified mail, and information was posted on the properties. No representatives from the two properties attended the meetings.

Under the city’s dangerous building ordinance, the city is required to hold a hearing within 30 days to determine whether to proceed or not to proceed with enforcing the ordinance.

The Reservation Street church dates back to 1889, when it was dedicated by the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church. The ELCA used the church until consolidating congregations in the 1960s. More recently, it was used by Glad Tidings Assembly of God before its move to a church on Ingot Street.

Safety issues at the church include broken windows, openings to the building through a lower staircase, and bricks falling off the facade.

The Hancock Street building had gone through the city’s dangerous buildings process once before, after which new windows were installed on the second floor. The roof was replaced after a fire in the 1980s.

“It has not been maintained,” Babcock said. “It’s been vacant for years.”

Babcock said one option is putting a lien on the buildings while the city performs necessary repairs.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Hancock’s police chief gave a mid-year update.

The department has received about 900 calls for service in that period, which does not include walk-ins and phone calls, said Chief Tami Sleeman.

Over that time, the department made 30 arrests and has responded to 50 accidents, which does not include those reported on private property.

Sleeman also thanked local and state agencies and community members involved in the two-day search for a missing Hancock woman last month.