Board agrees to building repairs

The City of Portland has preliminarily agreed to hire a firm to repair a downtown building’s wall after the adjacent building was torn down.

Portland Board of Works on Thursday gave preliminary approval to hiring Trisco Systems to repair the north wall of 206 N. Meridian St. following the demolition of the building to the north.

Funding for the work will need to be approved by Portland City Council, which meets on Monday.

Building owner LeeAnn Miller, who is rehabilitating 206 N. Meridian St. to house her business Reclaiming Design, requested assistance with repairing the wall and presented the board of works with quotes from three companies.

Trisco, a firm from Lima, Ohio, presented two options — one that would involve removing plaster to leave a brick surface and the other to apply new plaster to leave a flat surface for a potential future mural. Those options came in at $56,986 and $49,809, respectively.

Other quotes were $62,075 from Ace of Trades of St. Henry, Ohio, and $82,850 from S.A. Boyce of Muncie.

The building to the north at 208 and 210 N. Meridian St. was torn down earlier this year after the board of works had declared it unsafe in August 2023. The building had problems with its roof and a portion of the west wall had caved in. Jay/Portland Building and Planning director John Hemmelgarn explained at that time that he was concerned the building then owned by Juan Marentes would collapse.

Portland Redevelopment Commission looked into the possibility of providing funding to rehabilitate the building, but it was decided that such an effort would be too costly. The board of works in January awarded a contract to demolish the building, which it purchased from Marentes.

Eric Welch, the attorney for Miller, told the board of works Thursday that the demolition by JAShroyer Group of Muncie was completed without issue but that the now-exposed north wall of 206 N. Meridian St. needs to be repaired. After presenting the quotes, Miller asked that action be taken quickly in order to get the work done before winter.

City attorney Wes Schemenaur noted that the board of works had approved up to $20,000 for potential repairs to the east wall of The Greazy Pickle bar and restaurant, which was adjacent to another downtown building that was demolished. (The city had not made a commitment to Miller, taking a "wait-and-see" approach while agreeing to consider needs following the demolition of the adjacent building.) Schmenaur also reminded the board that the city’s redevelopment commission has been looking at potential plans for the two new empty lots in the downtown area.

Board of works members Steve McIntosh, Jerry Leonhard and Mayor Jeff Westlake discussed options, with McIntosh saying his biggest concern is fairness to both Miller and the owners of The Greazy Pickle.

“What’s our total obligation?” he asked. “I think we need to be fair, but what is that.”

There was some talk about meeting to discuss both buildings — Welch represents Miller and The Greazy Pickle owners Chris Grieshop and Thomas Emerick — but that idea was shelved after it was pointed out that the two situations are not identical.

Leonhard ultimately made a motion to hire Trisco to repair the wall and prepare it for a possible future mural at a cost of $49,809, pending approval of funding from the city council. That motion was approved unanimously.

Also Thursday, the board of works approved the hiring of former Indianapolis Law Enforcement Academy staff attorney and law instructor Charles Braun to review and update Portland Police Department standard operating procedures.

Portland Police Chief Dustin Mock brought the request to Portland City Council in May, saying rules, regulations, standard operating procedures and ordinances need to be updated, including adjustments to align with state statutes. The council tabled that request until their June 17 meeting, when it voted 6-1 to allocate $9,000 for the board of works to hire someone to handle the process.

The board of works, which is in charge of entering into contracts for the city, unanimously approved hiring Braun.

The board also approved sewer and water taps for 216 E. Pearl St.