Council takes action against crumbling structure

by Bridget Cooke

On Tuesday, Nov. 11, the Augusta City Council convened for their annual meeting at City Hall with a pressing issue; problems recently arisen from a building falling apart on Lincoln St.

At 116 W. Lincoln St, the Ball Club business has stood empty for some time. Now, the building has been seen as failing and is causing problems for Wally Shong Health Mart, which shares a common wall with the bar. 

During the meeting, because the back west wall conditions prompted city inspectors to recommend the building be given a condemned status and put forth a condemnation order, which the city approved. Responsibility falls on the owner to fix the problems. Repairs can only be made however, if the costs do not exceed less than half of the property value. Totals to tear it down could be estimated over $100,000. 

After considering the conditions and the safety hazard to residents of Augusta, the council decided to stand behind the recommended order of condemnation in order to motivate action as quickly as possible. A state statute allows for the council to name it a public nuisance. 

During the meeting it was brought to light that the Wally Shong business has procured the building on Lincoln St next to City Hall, which currently stands empty and is hoping to be back within the community within 1-2 weeks of Tuesday’s meeting. Renovations have already begun.

Mayor Delton Thorson noted the safety problems of having a crumbling structure on the busiest street in the city. 

“It is more than a mere eyesore or inconvenience,” Thorson said of the structure.

Hoping to continue the process along, the council also noted the need to hastily take care of the problem in order to avoid any more losses to residents of the community. Under the state law, immediate action is required. 

Another structure up for discussion was the Johnson Dam. Plans for the repairs to the structure in order to avoid it being removed have now been halted after the Department of Natural Resources viewed the plans and made additional demands of the city regarding fisheries.

Carl Anton updated the council to the problems, including a note of increased cost from the original estimate. The project will now be held off until the month of August, when completion is expected, though the bigger issue of discussion for the council was the anticipated $3,500 cost to the city and an amount exceeding estimates by $10,000.

Anton said though it was an unforeseen circumstance, the group in charge of the project did prevent additional costs by speaking to the DNR and explaining certain aspects totaling $5,000 were unnecessary while $2,000 was written off the original design amount by Hi-Crush, which is donating equipment and time to the project.

The council also had the opportunity to discuss and consider a new bow and arrow ordinance 12.01(2)(a) with a first reading of the proposed law. 

With a measure to help ensure public health and safety, the council considered the law, which prohibits bow hunting within city limits by ordinance. Per Act 71, which is a state law, hunting with a bow and arrow or a crossbow within the city limits cannot be prevented if the hunter is on their own land and/or given permission to use another resident’s. Neither hunting tool is considered a weapon under the state law.

In hopes to prevent a threat to the safety of city residents, the ordinance read as a stipulation placed on the activity of hunters, maintaining that no one hunting within the city limits is allowed to use either a bow and arrow or crossbow for hunting while within 100 yards of another person’s land or a public building.

In another first reading, the council considered a proposal to consider local well regulations program ordinance 7.04, which slightly differs from the current law, though specifics were not detailed as the member of the council hoping to specify was not present for the meeting.

A small amount of discussion was dedicated to the city budget, with no new items since changes were applied the previous Thursday. With a fund balance of $76,476, the council scheduled a separate budget hearing set for Thursday, Dec. 4, which will also contain discussion pertaining the 2015 sewer fund budget.

The council also approved a measure to close City Hall the day after Thanksgiving.