COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Teachers across the street from a now-condemned Council Bluffs apartment building say they regularly witnessed unsafe activities that proved distracting for students and staff. Kay Durfey and Jan McGuire are teachers at nearby Kanesville Alternative Learning Center who spoke to 3 News Now on the matter.
Around 14 tenants were given just hours to evacuate a rundown apartment building in Council Bluffs Monday.
"Oftentimes there would be people hanging out on the stoops, doing illegal activities, shouting out to students inappropriate subject matter, and just enticing them," Durfey said.
"The kids would jump up...from classwork and run from the windows, take 20 minutes to calm down if something was happening across the street," McGuire said.
Kaiden Neff is a student and resident. "It should have happened a couple of years ago," he said.
In February, the city's chief building official reached out to the building's property manager to address a number of code issues and bring the building back to compliance, according to the city.
"The emergency exits were blocked with debris and refuse," said Council Bluff Chief of Staff Brandon Garrett. "There were a good number of windows that were broken out, a lot of this has occurred over the last few months. The fire safety alarms were removed, perhaps by residents or other vandals."
"It was a while coming," Durfey said.
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