Questions on the Kings Inn

The recent headlines in the Freeman about the Kings Inn don’t cover the entire story. At last week’s Finance Committee meeting the Mayor requested that the Council approve an additional $100,000 to cover new costs and additional tipping fees, and I hear that this amount will increase before our next Caucus. What amazed me was the willingness of the Committee that was ready to vote on it without asking further questions. I had questions and wanted to know what these additional costs were for. The final decision was put off until our next Caucus on September 6th. The answers that were given still leave me with many questions.

Question #1: What is the additional money for?
Answer #1 “We had a theft where someone broke in and stole the copper pipes leaving the asbestos hanging there. These new costs were to now remove the asbestos instead of wrapping it.”

Question #2: Has the City filed an insurance claim for the damages, who is responsible to secure the sight and what was being done to insure it was secure?

Question #3: Where are we with the investigation on this 'robbery' since it is not so easy to take out copper pipes at night.


The answer to that was not as clear so I asked the Mayor yesterday when I was in his office. What was most troubling to me was his casual attitude on the theft and his dismissal of my concern. I realize that thieves steal copper pipes on construction sites, usually ones out in the country, not those on a major city street, besides this type of job is not done in 5 minutes in the dark of night. I also want to know how a building is to be demolished when asbestos is still present (which it would have been with the original plan to wrap the pipes instead of removing them).
I am concerned that this property has become an albatross around the City and taxpayer’s neck as we are now looking at nearly $300,000 to demolish the building (not including the owed taxes that we assumed when taking this property). The Mayor has instructed the work to move forward although the Council has not yet approved the additional funding. I am certain that the rest of the Council will quietly approve these costs without taking into account the financial impact it adds to the bottom line. Initially I was ok to make a small investment in a site to make it ready for new possibilities, but having the cost triple no longer makes sense. Now, the newest item that has surfaced is that the developer who brought CVS to Washington Ave is interested in this sight for a new Dollar Store. This Comprehensive Plan process that is supposed to begin soon needs to kick into high gear so we can lay out a roadmap for our City’s future.