More than two years after buying 701 and 703 W. Main Street, with the intention of relocating the DD Collins house and building a park on the lots, the City of Collinsville appears to have lost patience with the lone holdout tenant from the buildings.
Plans for the DD Collins House and park in Collinsville at the corner of N. Combs Avenue and W. Main Street
701 W. Main St. in the foreground and 703 W. Main St in the background. Both buildings will be demolished when the last tenant in 701 W Main St. relocates / Photo by Roger Starkey
The Collinsville City Council approved an ordinance Monday to allow the city to negotiate the termination of Stone Wheel Inc.’s lease for the 8,604 square-foot, second floor of 701 W. Main St. The City owns the lease, after purchasing the building and the neighboring apartment building for $1.1 million in Jan. 2012.
City Manager Scott Williams said the City has been working amicably with Stone Wheel’s management for the past two years in an attempt to find a suitable location in Collinsville. The wholesale auto parts distributor based in Willowbrook, Ill., has 11 locations in Illinois and six others among Indiana, Wisconsin and Missouri.
The two parties had agreed on a location at 9500 Collinsville Road, but the deal fell through and no further progress has been made, Williams said. The lease at 701 W. Main St., signed in Aug. 2010, can be renewed by Stone Wheel until at least 2020.
The action taken by the City Council Monday allows the attorney hired for this matter to determine the value of the lease if the City wants to buy Stone Wheel out, Williams said. No decision has been made at this time. If the city should move towards declaring eminent domain on the property in the future, the terms of the lease call for it to end immediately with no further penalty to the building owner.
Williams said Stone Wheel may be interested in another Collinsville location, but, since the City hired an attorney, communication has been between attorneys. Stone Wheel is currently paying $2,950 per month to the City for rent.
It is not clear how long it may take to resolve the Stone Wheel situation, Williams said, but he anticipated a value to be assigned for a lease purchase within the next few weeks. A representative from Stone Wheel did not respond to a request for comment.
When the situation is resolved with Stone Wheel, 701 and 703 W. Main St. will be torn down, the DD Collins house moved onto the lots and a park built around the house. The timing and cost of the demolition work has many variables, Uptown Coordinator Leah Joyce said.
The City awarded the asbestos abatement and demolition contractors work based on bids submitted in 2012. The costs may have risen in the interim, which could lead to more negotiations or rebids of the services. The original bid to demolish the two buildings was $148,395, Joyce said.
Even if further negotiations are not needed, the availability of the contractors and bad weather could delay the project.
Bids will be requested to move the DD Collins House, currently located at 705 W. Main St., to its new home, a basement to be installed and a park built around it. Until the bids are received, the timing for the completion of the park will not be known. The original bid for moving the house and building the park, including architectural services was $150,000, Joyce said.
Once in place, basic maintenance of the park will be performed by the Street Department. The recently formed Friends of DD Collins House non-profit group will assist at the site and through fundraising activities, Joyce said.
In other action Monday, the City Council approved $5,709.00 for the purchase of additional property for the completion of the Sugar Loaf Sewer Main Extension Project. Began in 2008, the project stalled when it was determined that the original design was going to cause construction issues, Director of Water/Wastewater Dennis Kress said. The housing crash caused the project to be assigned a low priority.
Kress recently worked with property owners Dale Maxville and Melvin Buetikofer to exchange land the city had previously purchased from them and sell an additional 5,709 square-foot to the city under the terms agreed in 2008. The completion of the project will allow the property to be developed for homes in the future.
The Gateway Center was awarded $203,957.08 in Tax Increment Finance funding for the removal and replacement of nine rooftop heating and cooling units, sprinkler repair and replacement, pedestrian bridge repair and infrared testing and repair to the electrical distribution systems. $203,957.08 is equal to the amount the Gateway Center rebates the city annually as part of their TIF agreement.
The Police Department will soon have three new Police Ford Explorers to replace three retiring Ford Crown Victorias, all above or nearing 150,000 miles of service. After trade-in, the total purchase amount is estimated at $73,191.
The Explorers will provide more room than the two Ford Taurus cars the department bought last year, with gas mileage at about 1.5-2 mpg worse. The Explores cost $1,000-1,200 more than the Taurus.
Assistant Police Chief Tom Coppotelli said the additional room is desired because of the amount of equipment, including a computer, in modern police vehicles. If more than one officer is in a car, Coppotelli said, there is little room for the passenger.
The Council agreed to pay $101,027 for the replacement of two filter media at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The amount exceeded the budget by $17,207 Kress said, but only one bid was received on the project. Kress called companies and sent bid information directly to them but, just as happened the previous three times filter work was bid, only one bid came back, Kress said.
