Demolition of the former Ace Hardware building was completed Monday in International Falls.
An emergency meeting of the International Falls City Council Friday resulted in the city ordering that the owners of the building, a corporation headed by Richard and Bob Peterson of the Falls, to demolish the building at their own expense within five days.
The order further states that the corporation must fill the foundation at the site and the debris removed within 14 days of the order.
The order was needed for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to allow the material to be placed in the city’s demolition dump site.
The council voiced concern that the building, destroyed by an early morning fire May 23, may pose a safety risk and an eye sore as thousands of residents and visitors gather for July 2 and July 4 festivities.
The council Friday agreed to pay for the costs to construct a wall around the site. But at a committee meeting Monday the council agreed to offer the money for the wall to be used by the corporation to remove the debris.
City Attorney Steve Shermoen was to discuss the idea that the money be used to help the corporation with the corporation’s attorney, Phil Miller. As of press time, no information on the corporation’s reaction to that offer was available.
Fire Chief Jerry Jensen Monday suggested the council consider using the money it planned to construct the wall to be instead used toward removal. He estimated the cost for construction of the wall at about $15,000 and said a Wagner Construction official has indicated the hauling could have begun yesterday.
But Public Works Director Gary Skallman said Monday that recent rainfall will delay use of the city’s dump site because a road must be constructed and a pit opened. He said city workers preparing for upcoming city events do not have time to prepare the dump site and a contractor would need to be hired to do the work.
Shermoen Monday also suggested the council consider that the site may now be eligible for city assistance under the city’s demo program, and the situation could be deemed by the council a hardship.
He said the corporation has, so far, met the conditions of the order. Under the hardship provision, the city would absorb $90 for each truckload of debris from an estimated $140 cost per truck load. Shermoen said a cap of $15,000 — the estimate of the cost for the wall — could be set.
At Friday’s meeting, Miller offered a proposal in which the corporation would accept a low bid of $35,300 to tear down the structure. Once razed, the corporation would turn the deed for the property over to the city.
Miller noted that while the corporation did not have insurance on the building valued at just less than $60,000, it is offering much more toward demolition of the building than the standard insurance coverage would have provided for demolition.
“The corporation’s officers have stepped up to the plate and offered more than twice the cost insurance would have paid,” Miller told the council.
Miller said the corporation’s offer represents the best interests of the city and the corporation.
The other option, he said, is for the city to seek legal action, which would likely delay any work to remove the debris, which must be handled under state specifications because of the presence of asbestos. Legal action against the corporation could also result in the city only receiving the same amount insurance would have provided toward demolition.
But Falls Mayor Shawn Mason remains adamant that the city’s taxpayers would not pay for demolition, nor the licensed contractor needed to load the material into trucks, or the costs to haul the debris.
The city has allowed the debris to be deposited in a new site at the city’s demolition landfill.
The officers of the corporation, she said, are good people and will want to do the right thing.
Who pays for removal and disposal of the debris could go to the courts, should the corporation not follow the terms of the order.
Jensen explained that a licensed abatement contractor will be needed to load the material into huge garbage bags placed inside trucks and be hauled and deposited into the city’s demo site.
Meanwhile, Kelly Meyers, city building inspector, said the site could be built upon, provided the construction fits the footprint of the former building and includes heavy fire separation from all boundaries.
“It’s not so much the lot size as it is the type of construction needed to build on that site,” Meyers told The Journal Tuesday.
