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RDA proceeds toward blight determination in case of Blackhawk Junction purchase

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By Correne Martin

As the city of Prairie du Chien and Crawford County governments negotiate a potential sale of the Blackhawk Junction property—with the city’s Redevelopment Authority (RDA) as the purchaser—the common council took the first step Tuesday night in authorizing the RDA to proceed with obtaining a blight determination for the property. Making such a determination is necessary in order to carry out redevelopment plans and eliminate the blight, and toward the receipt of a $35,000 cleanup grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

“If the RDA and the county cannot come to an agreement on the property, the process would stop,” said City Planner Garth Frable, during the regular common council meeting. 

According to a report from Frable to the mayor and RDA Chair Bob Standorf, the nine-acre property is blighted due to the previous mall’s years of having an absentee owner, deferred maintenance, aging and deteriorating buildings, and a high vacancy rate. Also, the site has a history of environmental contamination, stemming from a drycleaning operation once located in the western portion of the building that was destroyed by fire in 2014. In 1991, tetrachloroethane was detected in the site’s soil and groundwater after contamination was detected in municipal wells 1 and 2. Sampling conducted in 2008 and 2009 confirmed it as well. No further environmental assessment has occurred there since the sampling report of 2010.

The DNR chose to complete a Superfund Preliminary Assessment of the property, approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This, Frable said, underlined the seriousness of the contamination. No remediation has been conducted at this time. 

“The assessment concluded the contamination continues to pose a threat to people’s drinking water supplies via the groundwater pathway because public and private water wells in the city and/or neighboring town areas are relatively shallow,” the report states. “The contamination also poses a significant threat if contaminated groundwater extends beneath nearby regularly-occupied structures and/or contaminant vapors migrate along underground utility trenches into regularly-occupied structures.”

Blackhawk Junction, formerly Commerce Court Mall, was built over a period of 20 years, beginning in 1962. The mall developed into two buildings—one about 125,000 square feet and the other about 16,000 square feet. The western two-thirds of the southern portion of the mall were ruined by the 2014 fire, and the remaining portion of that building has since sat vacant and continued to deteriorate. Asbestos is suspected in the building and managing that upon demolition could be significant, according to Frable’s report. The smaller building that is currently occupied by four business tenants is in better condition but has also suffered from deferred maintenance. 

“Since owning the property, Crawford County has made necessary investments to ensure the building is safe and habitable,” the report states.

As it is presently, all parties involved consider the site to be a barrier to development and community growth. So, the RDA’s hope is to eliminate the blight and utilize urban renewal programs and projects to bolster development at the property. 

Fire chief position

The council approved, after closed session, to make Tim Deluhery Sr. interim fire chief at the rate of $250 per month in addition to the stipend he already receives as deputy fire chief. Also, the council approved naming Harry Remz, firefighter and former chief, as the fire inspector. Both these positions will hopefully be filled following the hire of a new fire chief/inspector. 

City administrator Chad Abram said the application period ends Dec. 4, and the police and fire commission will go over applications on Dec. 9.

Other business

The common council approved hiring a permanent part-time administrative assistant for city hall to replace a retiree who was temporarily filling duties through the national Service Employment Redevelopment (SER) program. 

Abram said this position would be beneficial so other office employees can focus on duties such as utility billing rather than answering phones and helping walk-in customers. 

“We’d like to get this person in place to help with the tax season and elections,” said Karen Solomon, alderwoman and personnel committee chair. “We’re targeting 20 hours per week but it will be flexible depending on need and when people are gone.”

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