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DeAun Michael | Reporter
OSAGE CITY—After being presented with options of waiting on
property owners or going ahead with clean up efforts at the area
affected by the recent downtown fire, the Osage City Council unanimously
agreed March 10 to take the steps necessary to make the downtown
area safe and to allow traffic flow to resume.
Four bids for demolition were reviewed during the regular council
meeting, with a bid of $46,600 accepted from McPherson Wrecking
Inc., Topeka, to clean up the buildings affected by the March 1
fire.
Prior to approving the motion, the council debated the benefits
of waiting to see if business owners would start the demolition
on their own. According to information provided by Osage City Manager
Nick Hernandez, a quick resolution with affected business owners
and insurance companies did not appear to be imminent.
“Under our code, there is a provision that if it is determined
to be an immediate safety hazard, the city may take immediate action,”
said city attorney Rick Godderz.
An opinion had been received from the city’s building inspector,
Gary Thompson, and a structural engineer, that the buildings were
unsafe.
Other issues also affected the council’s decision such as
Kansas Department of Transportation’s goal of reopening Market
Street to traffic as soon as possible, since detoured traffic was
causing the city’s side streets to show wear. In addition,
Hernandez said the Kansas Department of Health and Environment was
on site March 3 and told city staff the buildings needed to be kept
wet due to the potential of asbestos contamination.
Addressing the possibility of asbestos in the burnt buildings, Thompson
said, “Since there has been a fire, there is no way for them
to take it apart and tell what is bad and what is not. It all has
to be demolished as if it contains asbestos. It has to be wet, hauled
to a certain landfill and transported according to KDHE regulations.”
Councilman Jason Croucher said, “… the cost is upsetting
and I hate that we as the city are a part of this. But there is
a safety concern in downtown Osage City, and a commercial concern
in downtown Osage City. I don’t see that we have a choice.”
The council reviewed bids ranging from $46,000 to $65,000, but the
lowest bid was rejected because it did not comply with insurance
requirements of the bidding specifications.
Hernandez said the city had received 15 percent of total insurance
proceeds required by city code from one business owner’s insurance
company and they were still waiting for the other owner’s
15 percent portion. This amount is traditionally collected by the
city until demolition is complete, and is put towards costs incurred
by the city.
Also at last week’s meeting, the council heard a request from
Stephanie Watson, Osage County Economic Development director, for
a donation to the Osage County Fireworks Festival. Watson, along
with Dale Schwieger, park manager at Eisenhower State Park, told
the council last year’s event brought 3,000 attendees to the
park, including visitors from 25 counties in Kansas and 29 states.
After discussion, the council passed a motion to table the issue
until the next meeting in order to allow time to review the budget.
In other business, the council:
• heard a report from Watson regarding work being done to
encourage and track tourism dollars being spent in Osage County,
monthly economic development workshops, a revolving loan fund being
developed for use by entrepreneurs and businesses in Osage County,
and the Neighborhood Revitalization Program.
• passed a resolution to write off utility bills that
are over two years delinquent and remove them from the city’s
accounts.
• approved a proclamation to work as a 2010 Census Partner.
• appointed Mike Gilliland to the Kansas Municipal Energy
Agency board of directors.
• agreed the next council meeting will be 6:30 p.m. March
24 to allow additional time for agenda items, including an energy
agreement with Westar Energy. |
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