CHEBOYGAN COUNTY- Cheboygan County has several projects going on right now and County Administrator Jeff Lawson updated the County Board of Commissioners on several of those projects at its meeting Tuesday morning.
In regards to the demolition of the Gold Front Buildings, the county has received the environmental report back for the structure.
“We did expect there would be asbestos and lead paint there and there is. Most of the asbestos is in the floor tiles,” said Lawson. “Roughly probably 3,000 square feet or so of that. The lead paint, there's quite a few sections, including on the exterior of the building that have lead paint issues.”
The report will be inserted in the plans for the building and the county will be putting out the request for proposal for the demolition of the buildings this week. The county is looking for contractors or construction management firms to bid on the project in total and then subcontract out the portions that they are unable to do themselves.
“Hopefully we will have some people interested in that,” said Lawson. “We have had one call from one company about the project.”
If the property were able to find its way back into the private sector through the sale, there is the possibility the environmental costs could be broken out and the developer of the property may then be able to qualify for some Brownfield funds.
The county is currently laying out the money to have the buildings taken down and the property made suitable for sale again. If someone in the private sector was able to purchase the property, the county would want to recoup any costs it has into the building that isn't covered by the grant application.
Lawson said he would have to do some research to see if they would be able to break out those costs, so the new property owner would be able to benefit from the Brownfield Development funds.
On the jail expansion project, the architect has reported back to Lawson that they will be wrapping up their final plans by next week and the packet will be ready to put out to bids.
“We expect several larger construction firms across the state to bid on that project,” said Lawson.
Lawson also updated the board on several job postings the county has currently, including the Finance Director position and the Planning and Zoning Director.
The county will be looking at the first review of the applications for those two positions next week.
Also, in regards to the Cheboygan Yacht Club's request to build a facility near the county marina, the state would like the county to look at possibly taking over ownership of the property. The county would then have to do some kind of an agreement with the Yacht Club for the facility.
The commissioners were given some more information regarding this matter and it will be placed on an agenda for discussion in the future.
The City of Cheboygan also has the capabilities of having this land transferred to its ownership, if the county decides it doesn't want it.