The Culver Town Council members took action Tuesday night to get a piece of blighted property cleared by approving a demolition bid.
For the demolition and clean-up of the old City Tavern building at 415 Lake Shore Drive, two bids were received. Zehner Excavating provided a base bid of $50,000 and Thomas Excavating and Welding provided a base bid of $87,700.
Fencing pricing was separate where National Construction Rentals quoted $2,763.24 and asbestos remediation was quoted by A&G Environmental Solutions at $1,200 per eight-hour day.
The old City Tavern building was under enforcement under an unsafe building violation when a court order was appealed and the matter went before the Indiana Court of Appeals in an oral argument setting in Indianapolis at the end of October. Before the hearing was held, the building was destroyed by a fire.
Culver Town Manager Jonathan Leist said an asbestos report needs to be done since it is a commercial building.
“IDEM requires a report basically showing that there’s no asbestos in the building. Otherwise, you essentially have to treat the entire building as if it has asbestos. So, basically the additional expense to do that is watering and all of the materials that go out are placed in a poly-lined dumpster instead of being directly loaded and hauled out,” explained Leist.
An IDEM official needs to be on site during demolition if asbestos is present.
The demolition would take place within 30 days of the award of the demolition bid.
The project was quoted in two different phases, with alternate bids, which would take care of the demolition of the southwest corner of the building which is close to a neighboring structure and poses a threat there. The other phase would include clean-up of the rest of the building.
To err on the side of caution, Culver Town Attorney Jim Clevenger thought the council should wait until a determination is made following an oral argument in the Indiana Court of Appeals. However, the council feels the area is a safety concern to the general public and they voted to move forward with the bid from Zehner Excavating. Efforts to recoup the demolition costs will be done through a real estate lien on the property at a time it is sold.
Clerk-Treasurer Karen Heim warned the council that an additional appropriation will be advertised as the demolition quote amount approved isn’t available in the current line item in the budget. The appropriation request will be before the council at their Dec. 10 meeting.
