Ask Mr. Answer Person: "Has the company which was restoring the Hacker & Nelson building been told by the City they were taking too long and were told to shut down and leave?"

(Dennis e-mails: "Word on the street is that the company which was meticulously restoring the Hacker & Nelson building was told by the City of Decorah they were taking too long and were told to shut down and leave.  This sounds outrageous!  I'm hoping it's just the wild rumor mill at work.  Can you find out?")

Mr. Answer Person says: "Aah, the wild rumor mill, or as we call it, "The Mr. Answer Person Full Employment Act."

The word on the street, as usual, is off the mark.  Here's what happened: The company doing the work took out a building permit two years ago.  It renewed the building permit July 1st of last year.  That means the building permit expires on June 30th.

City Administrator Chad Bird has told the contractor they will have to renew the building permit in order to continue working after June 30th.  The contractor hasn't done that yet (and actually hasn't been working recently).  The company can continue working--so long as it renews the building permit.

One thing the company won't be able to do is to continue to park three pieces of equipment on Winnebago Street.  City officials have asked the company to store its equipment somewhere else--so parking spaces will be available for people visiting downtown businesses.