Council Approves Steps For Cleanup Of Old Landmark

After getting some expert advice on how to reclaim the site of the condemned former Landmark building, Peshtigo City Council at its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 3 voted unanimously to take the first steps toward achieving that goal.  The Landmark, which began as a nursing home and was later converted to elderly apartments before being abandoned, is located at 310 Oconto Avenue, near the city’s busiest intersection.

Without dissent aldermen approved motions to hire North Star Testing for not more than $7,000 to do some preliminary environmental testing, and authorized City Attorney David Spangenberg to work with Marinette County to take the property on tax deed, which would eliminate need for the city to take court action.

Ironically, city officials were advised that the roof will need to be shored up this fall, before winter sets in, prevent it from collapsing, which would greatly increase the of eventually eventually dismantling the building and disposing of its remains. There are almost certainly lead-based paint and lead pipes, and portions of the building contain asbestos and possibly other materials that need to be disposed of as hazardous waste.

Council was advised that if the building collapses before the hazardous materials are removed all debris from the entire structure might need to be handled as hazardous waste, which can be extremely expensive.

At a special meeting on Aug. 22 City Council had approved hiring consultants from Ayres Associates, Inc. for not more than $5,000 to help find ways for the city to acquire and demolish the old Landmark, possibly through state “Brownfields” grant programs. The building has been condemned, and property taxes are delinquent, but Mayor Cathi Malke said she had been told that Marinette County will not claim ownership of a property with such serious environmental concerns. She had already tried three times to get a grant to have the building taken care of and said she had exhausted all her resources.

Scott Wilson, Ayres’ Director of Client Funding,  participated in the Oct. 3 Council meeting from the firm’s headquarters in Eau Claire, while Bill Honey, an Ayres project manager who specializes in actual renovation of sites, was present in person. Honey said he also helps cities get funding to acquire the properties.

Wilson said Ayres has helped the City of Marinette get over $40 million dollars in grants over the past 25 years, and many of their projects in Marinette and elsewhere “turned horrible, unsightly properties into real gems for the community.”

Honey said his specialty is doing the hands on potion of projects. He recommended getting a quote from North Star electric to inspect for contaminated materials before going farther. He said in view of the condition of the building  he had not been comfortable even walking through it. He urged getting the work done quickly, before the building gets too far gone for demolition crews to safely go in. Later conversation indicated parts of the roof will need to be shored up before that is possible.

Honey said once they know the extent of contaminants they can get price quotes for demolition, and then they will know how much gap there is between funds available and total cost. He added that the faster they collect the needed information the faster they can get funding.

Malke said the city had been waiting for Marinette County to take the property over for back taxes, but now she has learned that will not happen, because the county will only take properties they can make money on.

Also on hand in person was Jim Rosenberg, of Eagle River, Regional Economic Development Director with Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDEC), who Malke described as an old friend who has worked with the city on previous projects.

Rosenberg expressed confidence that, particularly in view of its prominent location in the city,  WEDEC “could find a couple of hundred thousand dollars” to put into the Landmark project. He said it was good that the city had already hired a consultant. However, he predicted it could take up to five years to find the funding and complete the clearing and cleanup.

One of his recommendations was to form a Tax Increment District (TID) to provide a way for the city to recoup its costs once cleanup is complete and the property is sold. Malke said she will confer with the city’s financial advisors to get the TID process started. At one point in the conversation Honey said remediation costs could be in the neighborhood of a million dollars, and Rosenberg cautioned before hiring Ayers for the total job they might want to be sure the cost was not more than the city could spend on its own.

Malke said she also has been told that funds for cleanup are available from the DNR and other sources, including possibly a Community Development Bloc Grant (CDBG), but to meet deadlines, some decisions had to be made that evening. She said the Landmark site is the only spot in the city that currently would qualify for a CDBG.

Wilson cautioned that the city should not touch the property until they get state liability protection, which is available to municipalities that are trying to clean up blight, contamination, etc. He said they might use “friendly” condemnation, bankruptcy or other means to gain ownership and get started on cleanup without incurring excessive liability.  In the conversation it was noted that the current owner does not respond to attempts to communicate, and mail is returned unopened.

Wilson said Ayres’ biggest concern was to get the city to find a way to temporally secure the roof to prevent it from caving in, which would buy time to seek grants to help pay for total demolition and site restoration.

Alderman Katie Berman asked if, given the remediation time constraints, they had time to go after a CDBG. Wilson said they would not be able to get any CDBG money for at least a year, but it is best to chart out the needed steps and start at once to write grant applications.

He felt one of the first steps would be finding a way to get title to the property. Spangenberg suggested he might be able to work with the county, as the city and county have always had a good relationship. Wilson felt they might be able to negotiate an agreement where the county takes the property for back taxes after the city agrees to accept ownership and cleanup responsibility, with a lien to be put against the property through which the eventual owner repays the back taxes.

Spangenberg said at one point the property owner was willing to give it to the city, but that no longer appears to be the case. However, he will try to track her down and see if she is still willing to do that in return for getting away from personal liability.

There was talk of working with Bay Lakes Regional Planning, and others, including the DNR’s WAM program, and Rosenberg said the final Brownfields grant only requires the city to provide 20 percent of the cost.

Asked about condition of the roof, Fire Chief Chuck Gardon said during the inspection he had viewed it from a bucket overhead and there are spots where you can see right through it. There is a possibility of shoring it up from below, Honey said.

The city can do the inspection assessments without getting title to the property, but cannot begin any actual remediation work.

Alderman Allen England, referring to that day’s tour of the building, asked Honey if they had seen any animals, such as rats or cats. Honey said they had seen cats and some small rodents. 

Alderman Brigitte Schmidt said she knew there were cats there, and she has been trying to find homes for them.

Berman asked about forming a committee to oversee the cleanup, and Schmidt offered to serve on it, but Spangenberg said they should get title first.

“I think you’re going the right way…it’s best to take action,” Rosenberg commented as that portion of the meeting drew to a close.

In other action at the meeting Council unanimously supported Berman’s request to start Halloween Trick or Treating on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 4:30 p.m. and let it run until 6:30 p.m., rather than the previous 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. to give kids and their parents time to get home and get dressed up before going on their adventures.

By unanimous vote Council approved the Professional Police labor contract with WPPA/LEER “as discussed in closed session.” Details were not released.

After some discussion Council agreed without dissent that residents can dump grass clippings, leaves and other yard cleanup debris at the Badger Park well house and two other sites, probably on Aubin Street, to be identified by Matt Decur. Signs will be posted, and residents of the area around Badger Park will get letters telling them not to dump their yard debris along the fence that surrounds the park. To a question from Schmidt, Decur said when they pick up leaves and yard wastes in the city they bring them to the city garage site to be composted properly.

By unanimous vote Council agreed to contract with Marinette county for first half property tax collections, approved a one-year extension of the contract with Harter’s Fox Valley Disposal for garbage collection, and authorized Clerk/Treasurer Tammy Kasal to purchase Incode Cashiering software for up to $3,160 for use in City offices.

Alderman Debbie Sievert commented the city’s parks look very nice now.

Malke thanked Alderman England for representing Peshtigo at the Commissioning of USS Marinette, and thanked newly re-appointed Alderman Schmidt for accepting the committee appointments held by Chris Rhode before he resigned due to moving out of the city.

Berman passed along information that the “Young Chefs” cookbook put together by the Peshtigo Food Pantry and Peshtigo students would be featured on the Channel 5 news on Friday, Oct. 6. She said advertising was paid for by local businesses, recipes were contributed by students, and all sale proceeds will go to the Food Pant