Clintonville seeks CDBG funds
By Bert Lehman
If everything goes as planned, the old Merc building in Clintonville could be a distant memory soon.
City Administrator Sharon Eveland told the Clintonville Tribune-Gazette that Waupaca County is in the process of taking ownership of the property the Merc building sits on because of unpaid property taxes.
Once the county takes possession of the property, Eveland said the city plans to move forward with purchasing the property from the county.
“Normally, if we were to do this, it would be a one-page document, but because of the nature of this and what we’re trying to accomplish and some extenuating circumstances with the back taxes, we’re going to be looking at a special agreement with the county on this one,” Eveland said. “We’re going to use some CDBG money that is designated with us on this project, so there are a few extra things.”
Eveland said the city council will discuss hiring an engineering firm that would take care of asbestos and lead paint inspections, as well as oversee the planning and oversight of the demolition of the building.
This was on the agenda for a special city council meeting that was scheduled for Sept. 29.
Financial risk
In an Aug. 13 memo to city council members, Eveland said there is some financial risk to the city.
“In order to be eligible for reimbursement through the CDBG CLOSE funds, we have to procure these services competitively,” Eveland stated in the memo. “However, we would need to move forward on this before we have finalized the grant and before we know how much it’s going to cost to tear the building down, so it’s a financial risk that we may end up having to absorb these costs should demolition bids come in way higher than we have funds available.
“In addition, there will be some property acquisition costs we would incur (post CDBG award and pre-demo) that would need to be accounted for as well, but since we would not incur those costs until we were 100% sure we were moving forward on the project, there would be no risk there.”
Eveland told the Tribune-Gazette the city would like to raze the building as soon as possible, but the CDBG paperwork has to be completed first. She estimated it would take around two months to complete the CDBG paperwork.
“I want it done as soon as possible, but I can’t hazard to guess what the contractor’s schedule is going to look like,” Eveland said.
Once the building is removed, the city hopes to prepare the property for future development as a mixed-use property that would include residential space on an upper level of a new building and commercial space in a lower level, Eveland said.
“At the end of the day, what it’s probably going to look like is there is going to be a sidewalk area that’s built into it as part of the finishing, that there’s the start of a walking trail down to the park,” Eveland said.
Eveland acknowledged that plan is dependent on funding.