Supervisors vote to sue OHFA

Winneshiek County supervisors voted 5-0 on Monday to bring a lawsuit against the Oneota Historic Future Alliance (OHFA), claiming the organization is guilty of a breach of contract with the county.

OHFA had promised to cover the costs of demolishing the Caretaker's House at Wellington Place if the organization couldn't get the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places or find a tenant for the building.

OHFA paid Winneshiek County $5,000, but a good share of that money was used to pay for asbestos removal in the building--as agreed upon in their contract.  When OHFA could not find a tenant for the building and it was demolished, the county was left with a $9,600 bill.

County Attorney Andy Van der Maaten told supervisors Monday that he had not received a formal response to a letter sent two months ago to OHFA, asking that the debt be paid.  Van der Maaten pointed out that a "confession of judgment" in favor of the county would allow it to discuss repayment options with OHFA.  But he also pointed out that just getting a judgment along against OHFA was no guarantee of repayment.  Said Van Der Maaten, "Collection is a long shot."