A building that was slated for demolition for violating the Town of Culver’s unsafe building ordinance was cleared this past week.
Culver Town Manager Jonathan Leist said Zehner Excavating completed the work at the former City Tavern Building at 415 Lake Shore Drive in about four days. There is a pit that has a fully-sealed storage tank on the southern edge of the property that may be filled with liquid. He mentioned that in case ownership comes down the line.
Leist commented that the area looks nice and he’s happy with the work done there.
Demolition of the property came after an appellate court affirmed Culver’s order for demolition citing several health and safety concerns. The owner, Scotty Van Hawk and the 27 Group, LLC, appealed the decision of a Marshall County Court judge in support of the town’s order. The building suffered a devastating fire on Oct. 9 which led to more public safety issues. The town council voted to proceed with demolition for public safety.
In addition, the Culver Town Council members held a public hearing over an additional appropriation in the amount of $30,000 in order to pay the company the complete demolition cost of $50,000 by the end of the year. Clerk-Treasurer Karen Heim explained that the money is in the account, but the town needs permission to spend it as it wasn’t anticipated when the budget was adopted in 2018. No public comment was offered during the public hearing and the town council members unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance on the matter. The rules were suspended and the second and third readings were also unanimously approved.
