Bunk House Can Be Demolished

WAITSBURG - The bunk house is less dangerous than the city previously believed and the Waitsburg City Council is considering different options to get it removed.

The bunk house, formerly an apple-packing plant located east of the McGregor plant, collapsed late 2011 during a wind storm.

The city had talked about removing it, but had concerns that the building contained asbestos or lead and could be very costly to get rid of because of the possible toxicity.

The city had re-addressed the issue in February because it was learned leaving the bunk house as-is violated the city code.

City Administrator Randy Hinchliffe said an engineering company evaluated the bunk house and found that it did not have asbestos and contained only low levels of lead.

"We can send it to the landfi ll," Hinchliffe said.

The city had received a proposal for removal from Mark Johnson with Harry Johnson Plumbing and Excavation, Inc., that would trade demolition and removal services for two acres of land the city owns.

The land Johnson wants is where the bunkhouse is located and it is adjacent to 10 acres, zoned industrial, the Port of Walla Walla has talked about developing in the future.

Johnson said he does not currently have a development plan for those two acres if the city agrees to the deal.

"We would be a good partner with the city if we wanted to develop that," Johnson said. "But I have no development plans at this point. To me, it's just an investment ground."

If the deal was done, Johnson said the ground would be graded and left to be farmed for some time. He does not anticipate putting a mini storage business on that land.

Mayor Walt Gobel said trading land for services is new to him in his position and he is worried that if it's done once, the city will be faced with many other proposals like it.

Councilman Marty Dunn said the city definitely has to do something with the bunk house.

"I just don't know if this is the best plan of attack," Dunn said.

The counci l member s agreed that they would need to look at other proposals for removing the bunk house. Although, Gobel said the landfor services trade wouldn't cost the city anything and may bring in some property tax revenue if it is developed.

The discussion was tabled to the April meeting to take in more proposals and investigate other options for removal.