Issue with Midwest Furniture’s wall to go forward to council

By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com

The idea to protect part of Midwest Furniture while also keeping to the terms of the grant for the Schines Art Park faced stiff opposition during Thursday night’s joint Bucyrus City Council committee meeting.

Law Director Rob Ratliff presented the Public Lands and Buildings Committee with an agreement for the proposed Schines Art Park wall between Midwest Furniture owner Doug Godwin and the City of Bucyrus. The agreement would allow for a new wall to be tied into Midwest Furniture’s existing wall with metal fasteners, a cap to cover the space between the two walls, and a base at the bottom that would allow water to get out.

The agreement would also allow for the city to have the right to purchase the building if extenuating factors occur, such as the death of Godwin or his wife or Midwest Furniture ceasing operations for a set period of time. Ratliff explained that the terms would allow for the city to step in if necessary to avoid similar circumstances as to what happened with the former Schines Theatre when it was owned by Randy Strauch.

Though that would be a future avenue open to the city, Mayor Jeff Reser said there was no intention to purchase the Midwest Furniture building.

The city received a bid of $120,900 from Studer-Obringer Construction Co., Inc., of New Washington, nearly the same cost of appraisal for Godwin’s building.

“We’ve got to focus on getting this project complete. The agreement is just one of the hurdles,” said Reser. “We don’t want to lose the momentum. That lot has a potential to be a jewel for the downtown area.”

The new wall faced opposition from council members Bill O’Rourke and Bruce Truka, who both wondered whether it was smart to tie into a wall that was already deteriorating and if Godwin should be the one to fix his own wall.

Ratliff pointed out that the structural engineer hired by the city to examine the wall suggested the option presented to the committee as the best one available. Andrew Motter, Godwin’s attorney, added that his client did have the option to sue the city for not taking care of the problem when the building was damaged by fire a few decades ago, pointing out that the damage Midwest Furniture suffered over the years was in part caused by the dilapidated Schines Theatre. Additional damage was also caused when the building was torn down, crushing some of the windows, damaging the roof, and flooding the building.

An estimate was also provided to Godwin if he wished to fix the wall himself. The cost of that, Ratliff said, would be three times the amount of the proposed joint wall.

“Why are we arguing over this?” Auditor Joyce Schifer asked at one point. “It’s donated money.”

Reser noted that though they were short of the $120,900 price tag, he had raised $12,000 since the bid came through on April 11. The city also has $73,000 in pledged money, including a large donation made by Ohio Mutual Insurance Group.

Public Lands and Buildings, and later the Finance Committee, approved to accept the agreement, which will be before the Bucyrus City Council at the next meeting.

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The Public Lands and Buildings Committee also received quotes from Brandstetter Carroll Inc. for City Hall roof options.

Bruce Brandstetter presented three quotes for flat roof replacements with 20-year warranties. Frost Roofing submitted a bid of $116,854 that would put new one-inch insulation over the existing one, add a black rubber membrane and new stone ballast. Able Roofing, with a $122,000 bid, would also put on a black rubber membrane, but the insulation would consist of new HD board over the existing one and did not have an allowance for damaged areas. Duro-Last Lee’s Roofing would establish 1.5-inch new insulation over the existing one and also did not have an allowance for damaged areas, though it would have a 0.050 TPO Duro-Last membrane with a white finish and new kypar-coated metal coping. That company submitted a $122,626.06.

The committee, however, focused more on what a pitched roof could do for the 1970s building. Brandstetter provided two estimates for the committee for a metal frame pitch roof. Composite shingles would cost the city an estimated $400,000 while a metal pitch roof came at an estimated cost of $490,000. The metal roof would include new gutters and downspouts.

“I’d just like to see us make an investment in the building,” said council member Bruce Truka. “If we keep passing the buck, saying ‘oh, we’ll put a flat roof on it again’ – it’ll last another five years. It’s what we’ve done here the last 10, 15 years. We’ve done how many flat roofs? They all go bad and nobody seems to do anything. Help the community out and make an investment in the building and do something proactive.”

“It seems like a huge up-front cost, but I think in the long run you’re better off for it,” said council member Steve Pifer. “If you would have told the people when we first built this building, ‘oh, by the way, it’s going to cost you an extra $1 million in roofs over the years, they would have told you to shove it.”

Public Lands and Buildings made and passed a motion to receive schematics from Brandstetter Carroll for a pitched metal frame roof with shingles and one with metal. The cost of the schematics, which the Finance Committee decided to have not exceed $35,000, would be appropriated out of the General Fund. That money would later be applied to the total price of the project if the city chooses to move forward with a pitch metal frame roof.

A new roof was last installed in 2005, but the city has had to fix leaks on a yearly basis due to the flat roof.

The Health and Safety Committee approved repainting a number of high-pedestrian traffic area crosswalks. The crosswalks include the area of Lane Street and Harmon Park, Norton Way at Crawford County Job and Family Services, in front of the county courthouse, and the areas at the square on Mansfield Street.