SHAMOKIN - City council adopted a resolution Wednesday that would allow Shamokin to receive any potential state or federal reimbursement of demolition costs stemming from the tear-down of a partially collapsed building on North Shamokin Street.
The resolution was a procedural move in the event the city would opt to take out a loan to pay an estimated $125,000 in expenses for the demolition and debris removal at 709-715 N. Shamokin St. A loan was not voted on or approved as part of the resolution.
Steve Bartos, city clerk, said during the special meeting held prior to the council's monthly workshop that the city is working with federal Housing and Urban Development and state Department of Community and Economic Development toward obtaining some type of reimbursement for the project.
No guarantees have been made by either agency, and bill collectors have regularly been calling City Hall for payment.
The city ordered the emergency demolition of the former Shamokin Health Spa after it partially collapsed in mid-June. Work was completed in December after multiple delays.
Invoices nearing $102,000 were approved by council in January, an approval said to be contingent on the receipt of state grant funding, but the resolution approved Wednesday anticipates the total cost to exceed $125,000.
Also unsettled is a pending lawsuit in county court between the city and the initial contractor on the job, Robert Gusick Demolition, which is seeking payment of its $98,500 invoice plus interest.
Gusick began demolishing the building and hauling away debris in mid-June but was off the job by month's end after a dispute began with city officials over the project's scope.
Grant application
City council voted to approve a $250,000 grant application to the state for the second phase of renovations in and around Claude Kehler Community Park.
If approved, the city must match the entire award. Bartos said the work could be stretched out over two years, and that matching funding could come from annual Community Development Block Grant money and the city's recreation tax account.
The city's proposal seeks to develop the plot of land off Walnut Street behind the former Coal Hole building, across the Shamokin Creek channel from Kehler Park.
Trees and grass would be planted in that section, and walking paths with lighting and benches would be installed. Other vegetation would be planned throughout the existing park. A pair of foot bridges are proposed linking the proposed public park expansion both to Kehler Park on Arch Street, near the bandstand, and to a parking area along Third Street. Permeable paved parking sections are planned for the expansion and for Third Street.
Councilman Bill Milbrand noted that the plot of land across from Kehler Park, on which the former city warehouse once stood, had been deemed contaminated. Testing by state Department of Environmental Protection had found gasoline in the groundwater.
According to Bartos, DEP ruled that an environmental remediation at the site would only be necessary if a permanent structure were built there. The proposed park project, even with planned pavilions, would not require remediation.
Tom Grbenick, of SEDA-COG, was contracted Wednesday at a cost of no more than $4,000 to write the grant for the project. That funding will come from the recreation tax account.
Grbenick said the proposal remains just that for now. There are no guarantees that the project will become reality as the application for limited grant funding from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will be highly competitive.
DCNR had initially awarded Shamokin an approximate $200,000 grant for the initial upgrades at Kehler Park, completed last year.
In other business, city council approved 144 E. Lincoln St. as tax-exempt. The building was donated to Northumberland County Council for the Arts and Humanities and is now known as known as the Kallaway Center for the Arts, named after its donor.