BATON ROUGE - To give you a taste of how many properties the city is recommending for condemnation, 48 of them appeared on the Metro Council agenda Wednesday evening.

District 10 Councilwoman Carolyn Coleman spoke up on behalf of her constituents, requesting that some property owners be given more time to attend to their business. 

"You can take 98 off because it has been torn down," Coleman said.

Except it hasn't been. Item 98 on Wednesday's agenda is 123 North 13th Street, owned by Elliott Temple. The property caught fire in 2021 and was reported to the city. It was recommended for condemnation by the city in February 2022. The back and forth has continued until Coleman deleted it from the agenda on Wednesday. 

Coleman gave the property owner of two other houses, 940 and 926 East Boulevard, 90 days to make improvements. The two houses are owned by Collis Temple, who is Elliott Temple's dad. The blue house at 940 East Boulevard has been the subject of several 2 On Your Side reports. It's where Raymond Crane, a blind man in a wheelchair, had been living for over 20 years. Crane was found by a couple of good Samaritans while living in deplorable conditions.

"No one's looking out for him," said Dru Ingram. "He hasn't had running water for so long. He hadn't had a shower in over a year."

The house was not maintained. For that reason, Crane had stopped paying rent to Temple. Ingram and Richard Mahoney have been instrumental in getting Crane help, moving him out of the East Boulevard house and into a safer place. The property is in the same condition.

For months, 2 On Your Side has been in contact with Temple about his properties, specifically the 940 East Boulevard property. On Wednesday, he spoke briefly, telling 2 On Your Side, "We're making changes now."

Those changes can be seen at another Temple property highlighted by 2 On Your Side, 1285 Laurel Street. A crew was at the property on Wednesday working to make improvements. That house was condemned earlier this year after being on and off the condemnation list, which could be rescinded on an August council agenda.

Now, breathing new life into the area, a neighbor tells Brittany Weiss that she's relieved to see the work happening. 

There's more work to be done. Temple owns other properties in the same area, including a two-story building on North 11th Street and a duplex on Convention Street that are boarded up and without electricity.

As for Crane, it's moving day for him. With the help of others, he has found a permanent living situation off Government Street; one that's clean and safe, but he has a request.

"Mr. Temple, can the church purchase the property, fix it up for free, and I can move back in?" Crane asked.

Crane has come a long way, from a hole in his bathroom floor to a clean home with running water.