Nelson Excavating will begin filling the basement hole at the old Allen County Hospital site this week.
If weather is cooperative, “We can get it done in a couple of weeks,” said Rick Nelson. The company, whose bid of $88,600 was the only received, has 60 calendar days to complete the fill, with rain days excluded.
The contract includes removal of residue, including various sized chunks of concrete, that remain at ground level.
Lifts of dirt will be compacted as the fill goes along, with tests every nine inches to ensure density meets standards. The final course will be two feet of crushed rock.
Completion will have the site ready for G&W Foods to start construction of a grocery store. G&W also has mentioned it may include a hardware adjunct to the grocery, but that is not yet a given.
Meanwhile, Superior Builders is patching up the west wall of the medical arts building that was damaged during razing of the hospital. It also will close off a tunnel that connected hospital and med building.
County Counselor Alan Weber said he was confident site development was on a fast track with Nelson Excavating.
Terry Call, who does ambulance billing, told commissioners ambulance runs are off about one a day compared to the first three months of 2015. Ambulances were dispatched 437 times through March 30, an average of 4.86 runs a day. Last year the average was 5.68.
Collections through three months total $174,605.13, almost $50,000 less that last year for the same period.
Allen County’s contract with Iola for countywide ambulance service includes an annual payment of $1 million, with ambulance revenue expected to provide the lion’s share.
At the request of Hope Unlimited and the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program, commissioners proclaimed April Child Abuse Prevention Month in Allen County. Hope Unlimited’s Michelle Meiwes noted “children are our most valuable and most vulnerable resource.” She said 75 children are in safe custody under auspices of Hope Unlimited, which also provides a haven for abused adults.
