Members of the Crawfordsville Board of Public Works and Safety addressed many topics at Wednesday’s meeting, including a public hearing addressing the emergency demolition of the church on Mill Street that was destroyed by fire in December.
An emergency demolition was ordered due to the many safety hazards the remainder of the building imposed on the surrounding neighborhood.
“We were just worried about the neighborhood it was in, and then some of the road and the steeple and the bell tower were unstable,” Fire Chief Scott Busenbark said. “We were afraid somebody would get in there and get hurt.”
Mayor Todd Barton added that the building was a threat to a neighboring house, and firefighters couldn’t leave the scene until the danger was eliminated.
The cost of the demolition done by W. Enterprises was assessed at $4,820 and ordered to be covered by the property owner.
In other business, from the board:
• Approved an agreement between the city and Abbott Controls for HVAC system management at Fusion 54 for a one-year contract in the amount of $2,546.
• Renewed an agreement between city and Crawfordsville Main Street regarding the annual costs of services provided. The agreement was for an amount of $82,000 for downtown planning and development services to be paid in four installments along with $5,631 for landscape maintenance at Pike Place.
• Approved an annual agreement between the city and the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana for services, costing $6,000.
• Approved a request made by Mark Cox and the Street Department to approve a Snap-on roll cart for surplus.
• Approved a bid from Hay-Bush in the amount of $202,132 for the Masonic Cornerstone Project.
• Opened bids from multiple businesses for Community Crossings 2024-2 Paving. They include: Midwest Paving for $490,813; Grady Brothers Asphalt for $531,365; DC Construction Services for $496,694; Baum Partners for $556,894; Reith Riley for $514,549; Howard Companies for $544,295; and Milestone Contractors for $554,595. The bids were tabled for review.