Order affirmed

A downtown building will have to be demolished.

Portland Board of Works on Thursday affirmed Jay/Portland Building and Planning’s unsafe building order for 208 and 210 N. Meridian St.

The unsafe building order requires that the building be torn down within 30 days. If it has not been removed in that time, the city can advertise for bids for its demolition. Once a cost is determined, the property owner would have 15 days to pay for the demolition. Otherwise, the city could pay for the demolition and place a lien on the property.

The building, owned by Juan Marentes, is located on the west side of Meridian Street, adjacent to a building LeeAnn Miller is renovating as the new home of her business Reclaiming Design and across an alley from Pit’s Cocktail Lounge. Jay/Portland Building and Planning director John Hemmelgarn explained that the building has not been properly maintained and is a hazard to public safety. He said some effort was made to fix the roof, but that there is still a problem and part of the west wall has fallen. A section of the wall that remains is leaning.

He said he is concerned the building is going to collapse.

“I don’t think that wall is going to make it through the winter,” he said. “The way those buildings are built, they’re a structure where all the parts — the walls, the floor the ceilings — everything is built as a skeleton to hold the whole thing together. And when one thing fails, they’ll all start to fail.”

“That thing is unsafe, and something needs to be done as soon as possible,” he added. “The sooner the better.”

He said he has been talking with Marentes about the building for about five years with no significant progress made.

Hemmelgarn and city attorney Wes Schemenaur both said they had talked to Marentes and notified him about Thursday’s meeting. He was issued the unsafe building order July 31.

Portland Fire Chief Mike Weitzel concurred with Hemmelgarn’s assessment of the building. Schemenaur added that Weitzel’s inspection indicated it is a fire hazard and would be unsafe for firefighters trying to put out a potential fire at the location.

“It does look good on the front. It really does,” said Hemmelgarn. “But if you get out and look inside of that, it’s really bad. And it’s dangerous.”

“This has been an ongoing issue for years now,” said Schemenaur as he explained the unsafe building process. “We’ve tried to take the soft approach with people to try to get them to fix this up. And now I think the safety of the city is at risk here.”

Portland Mayor John Boggs expressed concern about potential damage to Miller’s building during the demolition process. Hemmelgarn said he thinks the buildings have separate walls, but that it is difficult to know for sure until the process begins.

Board of works members Jerry Leonhard and Boggs voted to affirm the unsafe building order. (Board member Steve McIntosh arrived later in the meeting.)

Marentes will be issued a notice that he has 30 days to comply with the order.

The property is the second the city has gone after this year for demolition because it is unsafe, along with the Bailey Building at the southwest intersection of Main and Commerce streets.

During Thursday’s meeting, Hemmelgarn issued a warning to others with properties that are not being maintained. He specifically mentioned the former Tom and Rod’s restaurant at 214 W. Main St.

“To everybody that owns the downtown buildings, it’s time to start taking care of them,” he said. “Or sell it and let somebody else take care of it.”

In other business, the board:

•Opened bids for self-contained breathing apparatus tanks for all of the county’s fire departments. The base bids came in at $675,185.15 from Donnelly Safety, $762,974 from Hoosier Fire and $856,000 from MacQueen Emergency. The bids were taken under advisement and will be reviewed. (The new tanks are being paid for via an Assistance to Firefighters Grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.)

•Approved reimbursement of $566.03 for electrical work done at 333 W. Main St., Portland. The work was required because a trash truck tore down an electrical line after it was moved as part of the prep work for the Blaine Pike paving and sidewalk project. The building is owned by Triple 3 Enterprises.

•Agreed to split the cost of a $525 property survey by Farber Surveying of Decatur on 204 E. High St. with Jay County Civic Theatre. The board last month approved the sale of the property to the non-profit organization for $7,246.62. The survey is part of the process of Jay County Civic Theatre seeking a zoning variance, which was a contingency of its purchase.

•Approved a sewer tap at 217 1/2 W. Lafayette St.