Council hires different asbestos removal company for collapsed building

The Washington City Council has changed course on which company it wants to abate the asbestos in the collapsed buildings on South Marion Avenue. At the council?s meeting Sept. 7 it voted to hire Active Thermal Concepts of Hiawatha to remove asbestos from 207, 209 and 211 S. Marion Ave. for about $27,000.

At its meeting Tuesday, the council voted 6-0 to rescind its support for Active Thermal Concepts and instead hire Environmental Management Services of Iowa (EMSI) Inc. of Dubuque to abate the asbestos for about $13,000. The council instructed City Engineer Rob McDonald to request bids for the demolition of the buildings.

Mayor Sandra Johnson said she was worried about how the council could accept EMSI?s offer when it had already voted to hire Active Thermal Concepts.

?Because these were not actually bid and there is no contract, these are quotations only, so we can rescind internally our discussion to hire the other contractor,? Johnson said.

The council received an offer from EMSI a few weeks ago to not only remove the asbestos but also to demolish the buildings, but the offer only applied to two of the buildings ? 207 and 209 S. Marion ? and not the third. EMSI offered to charge $39,000 for that demolition.

At that time, McDonald wrote in a memorandum to the council that he recommended Active Thermal Concepts over EMSI because demolishing just two of the buildings would leave a hole in 211 S. Marion until it could be demolished later.  McDonald said at Tuesday?s meeting that he was able to coax an offer from EMSI for the asbestos removal only.

In other news, councilor Russ Zieglowsky spoke about the city?s bill from L. L. Pelling of North Liberty for about $140,000. L. L. Penning recently chipped and sealed several roads in Washington. Zieglowsky said he was not pleased with the results.

?I?ve heard very little good about the chip and seal,? he said. ?We chipped and sealed roads that have holes in them without doing anything about the holes. I don?t know whose job that is to design, if it?s engineering or L. L. Pelling?s. I?m really disappointed. I think we need to revisit this program. It has been going south the last couple of years.?

Councilor Mike Roth said he was concerned about the chip and seal project, too.

?It doesn?t appear to me that it?s any smoother,? he said.

Several councilors commented that it seemed the rock was especially dusty this year. McDonald said he called the quarry responsible for providing the rock and was informed that the rock was washed. McDonald said that perhaps the amount of rock in the mixture could be cutback next year.

Councilor Merlin Hagie said the purpose of chip and seal is to glue the road together so it won?t crack.

?I can?t place the fault directly on Pelling,? Hagie said. ?I scooped up some rock and I found that, for three-eighths rock, this is the smallest three-eighths rock I?ve ever seen.?

Hagie said the mixture appeared to contain too many very small rocks called ?fines.? He said that having too many fines in a mixture prevents the larger rocks from sticking to the oil.

The council agreed to ask for a chip and seal mixture with fewer fines in it next year. It voted 6-0 to approve the $140,000 payment to L. L. Pelling.