Flood demolitions a month away in rural Linn County

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn County expects to hire a firm by month's end to raze 18 rural buildings that were damaged in the flood, but did not qualify for a buyout.

Bids are out, and demolitions should begin in October. Forty-eight properties - all near the Wapsipinicon or Cedar Rivers - qualify for the demolition. The county plans to bid the demolitions in two phases, as officials settle the details on each property.

The program is different from the voluntary buyout program in which the government buys out the property, demolishes the structure and makes the land forever public.

Some buildings - like cabins on leased land - don't qualify for a voluntary buyout, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency still provides money for demolition. Under the program, the owner retains the land. The program addresses public nuisances, “buildings that are in danger of collapse, or they're a public health nuisance,” said Brita Van Horne, a Linn County building official. “Most of these are structural issues.”

Some owners may qualify for a buyout, but do not want one because they want to keep the land.

“These people have recreational land that they don't want to sell,” Van Horne said.

One property that faces demolition is the historic Biderman Hotel, because the owner does not want to give up the land, Van Horne said.

Seventeen properties in Linn County will likely be demolished under the volunatry buyout program, along with more than 1,000 in Cedar Rapids city limits.

Voluntary buyouts in Linn County are not as far along as public nuisance demolitions. Offers will soon go out for those, but the county has not closed on any properties.

“It'll be a bit of time,” Van Horne said.