County awards bid to demolish nuisance on Washington St.

     A county nuisance that has been ongoing for many months seems to have a solution.

     During the Jan. 18 Jones County Supervisor meeting, the board awarded a bid for the complete demolition of the home and foundation located at 23325 Washington St. in Anamosa. The structure experienced a fire back in May 2020.

     Land Use Administrator Michele Lubben had been in contact with the executor of the former owners of the property, Heather McDowell. However, neither McDowell nor her attorney were present at the board meeting.

     The board received three bids for demolition and removal of the house to abate the nuisance. Option one was just to remove the home, not the foundation. Those bids ranged from $5,268 to $6,500. Option two, to remove the home and foundation, of which the board chose to move forward on, ranged from $9,230 to $13,800.

     There was much discussion, though, on whether the board should award the lowest bidder or a local bidder.

     McElmeel Construction’s option two bid was $10,362, while the lowest bid from Lansing Brothers Construction was $9,230.

     “Is option one a safe option?” proposed Lubben. “Because we need to secure the area from weather (and rodents).”

     Option two also includes grading and seeding the property following removal of the foundation.

     Supervisor John Schlarmann asked whether the county always had to award a project to the lowest bidder.

     “It’s my opinion to have Jerry (McElmeel Construction) do the whole thing,” he said.

     Supervisor Ned Rohwedder said if they chose not to award to the lowest bidder, the board needs to stipulate a reason why for the official minutes.

     The board’s first vote to award the bid to McElmeel died 1-3, with Schlarmann the only “yes” vote. The final vote passed 3-1, with Supervisors Rohwedder, Joe Oswald, and Jon Zirkelbach in support of awarding the bid to Lansing.

     “We’re spending someone else’s money on this (taxpayers),” commented Zirkelbach on awarding the lowest bid.

     Oswald said Lansing demolished the former Energy building in Monticello and praised their work.

     “This could discourage people from bidding,” added Rohwedder.

     Lubben noted that County Attorney Kristofer Lyons did receive last minute correspondence from McDowell’s lawyer regarding the county taking action to remove the home/nuisance. Lubben was also included in the email.

     “They’re disputing and they’re not happy with the (nuisance) process,” she relayed. “They threatened litigation, but we all want to avoid litigation.”

     She said McDowell is trying to get the county to stop all attempts at soliciting demolition bids. Lubben said Lyons responded to the lawyer that he disagreed with their allegations and that the county gave them proper notice on the nuisance situation and steps moving forward.

     “They’ve had plenty of time,” she said. “We’re not doing anything we shouldn’t be doing. Per the ordinance, we issued all official notices.”

     Oswald asked if McDowell should be given a say in the county’s options.

     “Send her a letter on our decision and where we’re at,” suggested Schlarmann.

     Lubben said demolition has to be completed by June 1. When the county demolished a nuisance property in Center Junction, the owner was not contacted ahead of time.

     “You don’t have to notify the owner,” she said.

     Schlarmann said if McDowell still has possessions inside the home, she could coordinate that with Lansing before demolition.

     Lubben said she would send notice to McDowell on behalf of the board.

     The board held public hearings on two other nuisances: 9073 County Road E-45, Wyoming; and 21726 County Road E-34, Anamosa.

     The board voted to grant the owner on E-45 a 75-day extension to clean up the property. The board voted to abate the nuisance on E-34.