Demolishing more buildings, seeking federal grant support, next steps in Dempster battle
BEATRICE – A committee working on the abandoned Dempster property in south Beatrice is hoping two more buildings on the site can be demolished this year, and that federal grant funds can aid in contaminant removal.
The committee gave an update to the Beatrice City Council, Monday night. Special Committee Chair, Councilman Ted Fairbanks says studies of the site have to be repeated, including deeper coring of the site, along with a material management plan already in place.
"You take a building down, this is what you're going to do to take it down...you're going to spray water on it when you do this, you don't get any dust flying away that's got heavy chemicals in it. You have a rock road put down in the place so you don't track it in and out. If you dig up a tree, you gotta leave it on site because the heavy metals could be in the roots of the tree. It's a plan that says, this is what we're gonna do."
The city currently owns two of five parcels at the former Dempster Manufacturing site…located on the far north side and on the south side of the property. City officials are working to foreclose on two of the remaining three. Complete ownership of the property is estimated in the fall of 2025. Fairbanks is asking the city to allocate about $160,000 this year to remove two more buildings on the site. At the same time, officials plan to apply for a federal Brownfields grant to help remove asbestos and contaminants.
"There's no cost-share with the Brownfield grant. We can apply for it as soon as we own the property. We would probably know about that within six months. We'd be able to use that, right away."
The city would use its consulting firm, Merchant McIntyre to help apply for the environmental grant of up to $5 million….which could be used for asbestos and soil cleanup. The city is working with state and federal officials as well as a group from Kansas State University to aid in producing grant applications.
As for the timing of demolishing two more buildings. "My preference would be that we spend the $159,000 and take down the two buildings we have earmarked. I want to keep moving on this project, and two...I'd like to be able to show them that we are engaged in this and we're not just waiting for them to do the work for us. Three, if the buildings are down and gone...and we don't get the grant to take down the buildings...we have that much more available soil or space that we can get a grant for. I think that's the easy target...to cleanup the ground."
Beatrice City Administrator Tobias Tempelmeyer says $30,000 was budgeted for the Dempster project this year, mostly spent on acquiring private property.
"Both the EPA and the state are very aware of the steps we've taken so far to clean this property up. They've been very pleased with what we've done to date....but they don't anticipate the city taken on an elephant this large, on their own."
Fairbanks said the cost of demolishing and hauling from the entire site is staggering….estimated at about $11 million. Replacing it with recreational area could reduce the cost of soil cleanup, according to city officials. Complicating the cleanup is two basement areas of the former manufacturer, the lunchroom and locker areas of the plant.
"This isn't a site the city is ever going to sell to anybody, so this isn't a site that can be developed."
Resolving the Dempster issue was the number two major goal of the city council as a whole…right behind downtown redevelopment. Fairbanks said, "By this time next year....if we don't get the Brownfield grant in the fall and we'll own all of it, there's some real big decisions that will have to be made."
A new phase one study on the Dempster property, paid through state environmental funds, is expected to be completed soon.