After almost 20 months of waiting, the downtown crumbling building will be demolished, possibly within the next two months. The building next door, which had an uncertain fate after its neighbor collapsed, will be saved.
The Jefferson City Council on Tuesday approved a $186,000 contract with ARSI Inc. to demolish the north, west and south walls of 200 E. High St., while keeping the east wall - which is shared with the building at 202 E. High St. - intact.
The west wall of 200 E. High St. partially collapsed in June 2018 due to water infiltration and hidden decay, according to structural engineers.
Andrew Neidert - with Neidert Properties, owner of 200 E. High St. - told the News Tribune he couldn't comment on the council's decision since he did not have all the information.
During Tuesday's meeting, the council voted 7-2 in favor of the contract to demolish 200 E. High St. while keeping 202 E. High St. intact. Ward 4 Councilmen Carlos Graham and Ron Fitztwater voted against the contract, and Ward 3 Councilwoman Erin Wiseman was absent.
"I am in support of taking down 200 E. High St., but the way in which we are going to be doing it is my major concern, and that is spending taxpayers dollars to take down someone else's building," Graham said before the vote.
Mayor Carrie Tergin said, although a tie-breaking vote would not be needed because of the odd number of council members present, she was in favor of the agreement and would have voted for it had she needed to.
City staff has said if the city abates the nuisances, tax liens could be placed on the properties.
At their meeting Jan. 6, the council held off on voting on the demolition contract, placing it on the informal calendar so city staff could continue conversations with Neidert Properties LLC and Carol and Ruben Wieberg, the owners of 202 E. High St.
The Wiebergs said Tuesday evening they are ready to move past this issue.
"It's not a perfect solution, but it is a solution that will move us all forward, and I think that's what we all need to do," Carol Wieberg said, following the vote. "We just need to move forward. It's been sitting there for 20 months."
In the fall of 2018, city staff ruled the common wall between the buildings at 200 E. High St. and 202 E. High St. was failing and must be repaired.
However, the McClure Engineering Company, hired by the Wiebergs, "does not observe any conditions, that indicate any significant loss of strength or stability" to the common wall between 200 and 202 E. High St., according to its October 2019 report.
"We actually have a brick mason that is going to come in and he's going to secure the wall to our building and then we can either do tuck pointing, or plastering, or whatever it needs to do to weather-proof it," Carol said. "We'll attach (the wall) to our building and then they'll take the other building down. We're ready."
The Wiebergs said they have 21 days to secure the wall. They hope to have it completed in time, weather permitting. They also said they have interested renters ready to move into the vacant building once everything is taken care of.
"We want to get this done so we can move on with our lives," Carol said. "It's a financial black hole right now."
Sonny Sanders, director of the Jefferson City Department of Planning and Protective Services, said they hope to move forward with demolition as soon as possible once the work is completed.
In their proposal, ARSI Inc. said it was prepared to begin on-site work within seven working days of receiving written notice from city officials to proceed.
ARSI Inc. must complete work within 30 days after receiving a written notice from the city to proceed, according to the contract.
Along with the contract the council approved, ARSI Inc. had also provided a bid to demolish both buildings simultaneously, which would have cost approximately $268,000, according to the proposal.
Last month, the City Council approved a $300,000 supplemental appropriation to pay for possible demolition of one or both of the East High Street buildings.
City staff gave the Wiebergs until Dec. 9, 2019, to begin repairing or demolishing their building. If they didn't, the city threatened to begin the demolition process the following day. However, city staff did not begin the process last month so they could continue negotiations between Neidert Properties and the Wiebergs.
Since the city staff ruled the common wall was failing, Neidert and the Wiebergs have argued over who is responsible for repairing and maintaining the common wall, filing petitions with the Cole County Court in fall 2018.
Cole County Presiding Judge Pat Joyce ruled last year Neidert Properties owns the common wall and could demolish 200 E. High St. Neidert later applied for a demolition permit.
The Wiebergs filed an appeal with the Missouri Western District Court of Appeals in October, asking the court to reconsider Joyce's judgment.
After city staff ruled both of the East High Street buildings were dangerous in 2018, they gave Neidert Properties and the Wiebergs deadlines to repair or demolish their buildings, which they both missed.
The city held administrative hearings and ruled the city could abate the nuisance if the property owners did not repair or demolish the two buildings.