By John Estridge
Brookville Town Council is going to pay the county $50,000 to knock down the former Indiana Department of Transportation maintenance building at the intersection of Ninth and Mill streets in Brookville.
INDOT has moved its operation to Indiana 101 north of its intersection with Golden Road.
BTC President Curtis Ward said there was a prior agreement with INDOT that the Town of Brookville has the first opportunity at the salt dome, which is at the former INDOT location. However, the state has been in negotiations with Franklin County over use of the salt dome in exchange for money going from the state to the county, and the county taking over a section of Old Indiana 1 across the river from Cedar Grove.
Because Brookville has the first opportunity at the property, the town and county had to enter into a cooperation agreement concerning the property, Ward said. Both the BTC and Franklin County Commissioners met in a joint executive session on Friday, July 30.
According to Ward, the county is going to pay the state $135,000 for the property and then the state is going to give that amount of money as a credit to the county for demolition of the maintenance building. The property will transfer to the county after that transaction.
Then, the county has six months to demolish the buildings, other than the salt dome, on the property. Ward said the county has to return the lot, other than the salt dome, to “sod-ready or seed-ready ground.”
Once that is accomplished and after six months, the property transfers to the town in exchange for the town paying the county $50,000.
According to Ward, the vacant lot, including the salt dome, would then transfer to the town.
“We allow the county to use the salt dome for up to 10 years or until the building falls into a state of disrepair or it is no longer useable for that,” Ward said.
However, once the town owns the property, the town can give the county a six-month notice to vacate the property. If that occurs, the town would be responsible for tearing down the salt dome. If the county stops using it – abandons it – then, the county is responsible for the demolition. After 10 years, the county will be responsible for demolishing the salt dome.
Prior to the agreement with BTC, the commissioners and INDOT agreed to giving some of this for that.
The county will receive $635,000 in cash from INDOT. Of that amount, $135,000 goes to the demolition of the maintenance building.
Roughly one year from now the state will give the county $2.5 million and also pledges to fix the slides on Old Ind. 1 with a 10-year guarantee. In exchange, the county will take over about two miles of Old. Ind. 1, which includes three bridges.
This part of Old Ind. 1 stretches from Indiana 1 east to Graf Road. It has not been well maintained by the state since the Ind. 1 construction and opening at Southgate Hill and the subsequent closing and demolition of the old iron bridge over the Whitewater River at Cedar Grove.
https://global.remax.com/en/agents/usa/brookville/dennis-e-kolb/1025272004
