Demise of Tower Building still long time away

Demolition of the Tower Building on Miller Avenue is still months away, Davison County commissioners learned Tuesday.

The good news is that the county won’t be paying to heat the building in the meantime.

Maintenance Supervisor Mark Ruml reported that plans are being finalized for the final disconnection of utilities. All tenants have vacated the building, and only a basement maintenance shop will remain active until shortly before the building comes down.

Until then, only the shop area will be minimally heated using space heaters, Ruml told the commissioners.

The large hospital generator that provided electrical backup for the adjacent public safety complex has also been removed and replaced with a smaller, more efficient model. Installers will perform tests on the new unit next week, Ruml said.

Things were proceeding quickly toward demolition until the county applied for a community block grant to assist with demo costs.

The county, assisted by Planning and Development District III staff, was approved for the $150,000 grant, but the process came with some red tape. That red tape is worth the savings the county will realize, commissioner Dave Weitala said.

The state requires a review of the property by the Historic Preservation Commission before the building can be razed. That contact was submitted, said District III Planner Eric Ambroson, who is assisting with the grant application.

But the commissioners recently added a second building to the north of the old hospital — currently used as a Stepping Stones residential home — to the demolition schedule, and that also must be reviewed by the preservation board.

“We also needed to collect some pictures of the building and surrounding properties,” Ambroson said in a phone interview.

“Then we must wait for the preservation office review and that board’s ‘finding of no significant impact,’ before we can proceed to have a public hearing on the demolition,” said Ambroson.

About a month later — barring any public objections — the county can start advertising for demolition bids and drawing on the block grant funds, Ambroson explained.

Ruml doesn’t see that happening until spring. While it remains possible, he said, winter demolition is unlikely since water will be required for dust control during demolition. Freeze-ups could limit water use for those purposes.

Rural addressing

In other business, Zoning Administrator Dan Sudrla told the commissioners that county crews will soon begin finishing the placement of 911 rural addressing signs in the former Mitchell Township.

The county’s rural addressing ordinance requires that every home or business in the county display a building number assigned by the 911 addressing director. The addressing number is affixed to a single post that must be installed to the right side of a driveway, no more than 6 feet from the road surface.

The signs are designed to direct police and medical personnel to a home in case there’s an emergency, but they aren’t popular with county residents, said County Highway Superintendent Rusty Weinberg.

Weinberg said many of the earlier addressing signs were removed because landowners either don’t like their appearance or because they present an inconvenient barrier during mowing.

That may be the case, but once the signs are installed they must be maintained by the landowner at the original installed locations, Sudrla said. Removal is a misdemeanor offense.

“Each day such violation is committed or permitted to continue shall constitute a separate offense and is punishable as such,” reads the addressing ordinance.

Other business

The commissioners also:

• Approved the installation of the holiday Christmas tree display at the courthouse.

• Approved the Equalization Office’s purchase of two computers for $3,100 from Tech Solutions, and $516 for a projection screen.

• Sitting as the Board of Adjustment, approved a conditional-use permit for applicant Tim Crelly that will allow Crelly to operate a “park and sell” location on south Highway 37. There were no objections from neighbors regarding the application.

• Approved a raffle permit for Relay for Life.

• Approved contingency transfers to the welfare budget for $30,000 and the coroner for $7,000, since those budget lines are nearly depleted.

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