The Daily News

Comstock Construction is nearing completion of their remediation activities at Building 20 on the former Imation Campus.

Economic Development Director Jane Priebe said Tuesday at a Wahpeton Community Development Corporation (CDC) meeting, an inspection of the building reveals no evidence of dust.

"As for the electrical panels, there's still some dust in there. Comstock is waiting until everything is completely dry before they start tinkering with the electrical panels," Priebe said.

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Two temperature control panels being replaced are approximately one week away from being installed.

The CDC will be able to view before and after photographs of Building 20, as part of a final inspection completed by Braun Intertec Corporation of Bloomington, Minn.

"They expect that to be done as early as the end of the week," Priebe said.

Following Priebe's update of the clean-up, the CDC approved to authorize the CDC Executive Committee to accept or reject bids for approximately 3,000 pounds of racking dismantled from inside Building 20.

"Depending on what we get for that, that would allow us to reimburse for the labor to remove the racking," said Brad Pauly, CDC treasurer.

Priebe said Bobcat doesn't need to use the shelving, as it's not heavy enough for their product.

Prior to entering closed session, CDC board members discussed how they can potentially recover expenses from Giant Snacks, LLC., incurred for the clean up of Building 20. Giants was the building's former tenant.

Steve Lies, city attorney, said the CDC's best approach would be to take two to three board members and meet with Jay Schuler, owner of the company. Lies said Schuler guaranteed at the time he signed the lease that he would comply with the CDC's clean up requirements.

"You want to have personal contact and see if you can get the matter resolved, short of getting into a combative and hostile environment," Lies said.

If the meeting is unsuccessful, Lies suggested the board should try binding arbitration, a more private way businesses typically prefer to resolve claims. Arbitration would save the CDC money, as opposed to going directly to trial.

If arbitration also doesn't work, the CDC might consider filing a lawsuit, Lies said.

The board chose to send two board members and Lies to meet with Schuler and his counsel. Members will report back to the CDC.

Comments

bob wrote on Nov 17, 2009 6:33 PM:

" That's nothing compared to what it will look like after Bobcat gets done with it. "




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JM wrote on Nov 16, 2009 1:31 PM:

" Why does the city have to send representatives to see Mr. Schuler? Shouldn't he be the one coming to the city to resolve the issue? What is our city attorney thinking? A simple certified letter should be sent telling him how it is and to make arrangements to take care of what he owes the city and taxpayers. If that doesn't work, I guess going to court is the best alternative. "




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larry wrote on Nov 13, 2009 11:38 PM:

" We are fortunate to have companies like Giants in our town. They're a nationally recognized label and great advertising for the community. This dust issue needs to be resolved and we need to keep good relations with our existing companies along with attracting new ones. "




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MM wrote on Nov 12, 2009 10:27 AM:

" Wahpeton is just upset because Giants got smart and decided to build outside of the city limits so they no longer collext the taxes for this company. "




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kadon wrote on Nov 11, 2009 10:23 PM:

" Salt dust. As reported earlier. "




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Im confused wrote on Nov 11, 2009 5:46 PM:

" What kind of dust was a problem? Nothing (not even a clean room at Intel) is "free of dust" "




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