SL council urges county to take care of abandoned school building

SOAP LAKE — The demolition and removal of an abandoned and decaying Grant County-owned school building in Soap Lake has been a pressing issue in the city for years and city officials are now urging the county to do something about it.

As it stands today the former Delancey-Houghton Elementary School, located on the corner of Fourth Avenue Southeast and Canna Street South in Soap Lake, is currently unoccupied and run-down, and presents a significant health risk for people who enter the building. Grant County received the title to the property through a tax foreclosure sale and the county is listed as the owner of the property, meaning any costs associated with the property will be footed by the county.

Back in April 2016 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced asbestos containing materials had been found inside the building. The EPA cleaned up the asbestos hazard, but the building was not demolished. Soap Lake officials have been urging the county for a number of years to have the building fully demolished, as the location is only partially demolished and frequently used by the homeless and drug users.

“The issue, besides the unattractiveness, is the basement. The (police) chief says you can’t believe how many needles are down there. I have heard horror stories from bus yard staff on the things that they see and hear going on down in that basement,” Mayor Raymond Gravelle said during Wednesday night’s council meeting.

During Wednesday’s meeting Gravelle informed the council that Gray-Excavation offered to demolish the building for $8,000. Gravelle said he does not know if the $8,000 estimate is for the demolition of the building and hauling away of the materials, or just the demolition itself.

City attorney Katherine Kenison said the main options for demolishing the building are the county taking advantage of the $8,000 estimate or the city footing the bill and recouping that money from the county at a later time.

Kenison also suggested offering the county a voluntary correction agreement in which the county and city enter into a contract and agree ahead of time how long the county has to address the issues at the property, which would include demolition and removal of the materials. If the county violates the agreement, the city could then take action against the county for breaching the contract.

“Obviously we would prefer to work with the (county) commissioners to resolve this issue,” Kenison said.

“It’s Grant County’s property. It’s their responsibility and unless we push, they are not going to do anything. So we need to start pushing. That's why we’ve got courts and (what) we’ve got an attorney for. Let’s push,” councilmember Judith Tramayne asserted.

The council unanimously passed a motion to have Kenison notify the county to take action on the school building.

“Putting them on notice. We want it done,” Gravelle remarked.

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.