Two members of the Wesley United Methodist Church board met Monday evening with Trenton’s Building and Nuisance Board and other city officials.
Larry Bunnell said work was received Saturday night and shared at the Sunday morning worship that the district official for the United Methodist Church believes damages to the church are too extensive and the entire building should be torn down. In its place, Bunnell said, will be a new but smaller one-story church. All of this is contingent, he stressed, on one more vote that is scheduled for a February 1 meeting.
Bunnell said Perkins and Sons has been contacted for the demolition. Preliminary architect drawings of a new church have been provided and are undergoing review.
Alan Crawford indicated the new building would be less than half the size of the current structure. The church at 9th and Washington sustained extensive damages to the roof and walls during a tornado that was part of the May 6 storms in Trenton.
The comments came during a public hearing the Building Board held for 113 East 9th Street. The Building Board then voted for a 60-day extension before taking the next step in the process.
Three other time extensions were approved last evening. 601 East 9th Street got a 60-day extension, 1423 Chestnut Street received a 60-day extension, and 2002 Lulu Street got a 30-day extension. Advancing to findings of fact was 500 East 8th Court. 2102 Park Lane was advanced to a certificate of existence of a dangerous building. No one represented any of these locations at the meeting Monday night. It was announced that 2201 Park Lane now has a dangerous building certificate on a deed that the city has filed at the courthouse. Following a review by Building Inspector Wes Barone, the board moved to declare a nuisance for the property at 712 Harris Avenue. He’s also working with owners and insurance companies regarding the cleanup of fire-destroyed houses at 718 West Crowder and 1012 Laclede Street.
Barone also advanced a proposal to the Building and Nuisance Board that he said is aimed at getting more owners to cost-share with the city regarding demolitions. Barone asked the board to consider increasing the maximum 50 percent city match to $3,500 and to include a 50 percent match for asbestos abatement. Currently, the city offers a maximum of $2,500 in the cost-sharing arrangement. The property owner is currently responsible for the hazardous materials inspection fee and asbestos abatement costs, including seeding of the property. The board expressed a desire to take a month to study the proposal; then consider making a recommendation on the change to the city council in time for the next budget year (which begins in May). The council this year budgeted $50,000 in city funds toward demolition work.
Barone provided figures showing last year’s bid average of ten, one-story, residential demolitions was $6,500. For the two-story demolitions, the average cost was $11,000. Last year, the bid average for asbestos abatement on nine structures was $1,650. The asbestos inspection fee was $300.
Four members of the board attended the meeting: David Mlika, Vickie Meservey, Lindsay Stevens, and Gloria Buzzard. Three others were absent.
It was reported that as of December, Perkins Dozing had completed demolition work at seven residential locations with two more to go.
Barone is working on updates to the planning and zoning map, and code ordinances, and guiding citizens on requests for zoning variances.
His December summary also includes information on non-city projects. This includes North Central Missouri College officials reviewing bids on the construction of a new student center on the campus in Trenton. Work was being done on the interior of NCMC’s athletic practice facility. Animal Kingdom Vet Clinic was working on interior walls, electrical, and HVAC. Dollar General last month was pouring footers and the foundation for the Dollar Mart store (until winter weather hit). Barone is working with Liberty Gas and Trenton Municipal Utility crews to ready a future site for Taco Bell. It reportedly involves the expected demolition of former business buildings at 9th and Oklahoma (east of Sonic).
