No action by Supervisors on Wellington Place North Building

On Monday morning the Winneshiek County Board of Supervisors held off on action regarding the fate of Wellington Place North Building until after a public hearing desired by the Winneshiek County Historic Preservation Commission that they would tentatively host on January 28.  Supervisor Chair John Logsdon questioned the timing, stating that he felt sufficient information was available to make a decision, and that no viable options  or figures had been presented for either mothballing or building reuse.

Ultimately Logsdon agreed to prepare a more succinct cost benefit analysis related to county costs and the demolition of the building to the commission in advance of the meeting, although he noted that virtually all the cost information was currently in an open file in the Auditor's Office. Commission representative Dave Stanley maintained that his issue was not necessarily preservation of the building, but he wanted the public to get a clear picture of the costs for demolition.

Supervisor Dean Thompson said he would like clean figures on what it would take to essentially separate the building from Wellington Place, and then make a decision.  Wellington has asked for demolition based on their responsibility for upkeep, as well as health and safety issues. Logsdon points out a licensing renewal issue because they need to be in compliance by May related to the Fire Marshall expectations. Items that need to be addressed include water and sprinkler systems that are tied into the North Building. Logsdon was asked to get in writing what exactly the Fire Marshall expectation would be in terms of a clean separation of the buildings that possibly could allow for mothballing the facility.

Logsdon commended Wellington for being an asset to the county by their management of the facility, including providing a $3.7M facility, purchasing big ticket items that could be county responsibility, and waiving $40K in fees annually related to capital maintenance.