Linn supervisors oblige critics on closed county home again

CEDAR RAPIDS - One irritant for critics who want to reduce the Linn County Board of Supervisors from five full-time members to three is the board's pending plan to demolish the former county home.

Supervisor adversary Linn County Auditor Joel Miller also has complained about the process the supervisors have used for the planned demolition of the sprawling, 1970s-era building at County Home Road and Highway 13, which most recently housed the long-term residential facility Abbe Center for Community Care before it closed in September 2013.

On Wednesday, in reaction to critics, the supervisors, on a 3-2 vote, agreed to conduct a new appraisal of the property to drive home the point that it is much less valuable than the $5.5 million figure that the Linn County Assessor's Office placed on it in 2012 when it was open and housed 100 residents.

Miller has been commenting about the value from 2012 for weeks.

Supervisors Ben Rogers and John Harris voted against the new appraisal saying that any 'prudent” person would know that the building's value today is nowhere near $5.5 million and that the cost to rehabilitate the building makes such an idea impractical. The value will be in the land when the building is demolished, Rogers said.

Supervisor Jim Houser proposed the new appraisal, saying it will cost a couple thousand dollars and will be worth it because it will 'dispel some rumors and innuendos” that the county building is worth $5.5 million.

Houser said the water supply to the building, for one thing, is no longer dependable.

Rogers said he opposed spending county money to 'appease” those who contend that the building is valuable or that it once again can be a facility for those with mental illness.

'Those days are long gone,” Rogers said.

Supervisor Brent Oleson said the Linn County Assessor's Office has informed the supervisors that the $5.5 million assessment placed on the building in 2012 was based on historical information and not from a new, interior analysis of the building.

Oleson and Supervisor Linda Langston backed Houser's call for a new appraisal. Langston said the county has professional services agreements with appraisers and quickly can get an appraisal completed.

The move for a new appraisal is the second concession this month on the county building that the supervisors have made to Kevin Kula of Coggon, who is heading up a petition drive to reduce the board from five to three members, and to Miller.

The supervisors also have agreed to hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. next Wednesday to give the public a formal opportunity to submit a proposal to save the building.

Oleson said he was interested in a 'legitimate, bona fide, capitalized” offer that provides the 'highest and best use”for the property.

Darrin Gage, the county's director of policy and administration, told the supervisors that he had not been contacted recently by anyone with an interest in the building.

Miller said he has received one contact.

The county continues to prepare to seek bids for demolition if the public hearing does not prompt a valid proposal for the building, Gage said.

Miller said the supervisors should stop 'belittling” the assessment provided by the Linn County Assessor's Office in 2012.

At the same time, he applauded Houser for following good business practices.

'No business would bulldoze a building it owns without getting an objective, professional opinion as to how much it's worth before deciding what to do with it,” Miller said.