Maquoketa property owners: We can't afford to clean up fire site

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By Steven Martens | Wednesday, September 03, 2008 |

Nine months after a fire destroyed several Maquoketa businesses, much of the mess remains. City Councilman Neil Morehead thinks the city should do something. (Kevin E. Schmidt/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Jennifer Westphal knows people in Maquoketa are getting anxious.

Nine months after a fire destroyed three downtown businesses, a pile of bricks and rubble still sits behind an orange plastic fence in the heart of the city’s business district, and community leaders say people are ready for the mess to be cleaned up.

Westphal, who owned Jackson County Home Furnishing in a building owned by her parents, says she wants the mess cleaned up, too, but there is one problem.

“Nobody has the money to do it,” she said.

The possible presence of asbestos in the rubble left behind by the Jan. 19 fire has raised cleanup costs well beyond what will be covered by her insurance, Westphal said. She said she received estimates for the asbestos removal that ranged from $300,000 to $600,000, none of which is covered by her insurance.

“When I tell people that, their mouths just drop,” she said.

Karen Breitbach moved Breitbach Floor Covering a few doors down from her former location to a rented space one-tenth the size of her previous building. Breitbach said she had a clause in her insurance policy to cover the cost of hazardous material removal in the event of a fire, but it will still cost at least $200,000 more than her insurance will cover.

“We just don’t have the money,” she said.

Asbestos is often found in building materials and has been linked to lung cancer and other lung diseases. The federal government requires that cleanup projects like the one in Maquoketa include checking for asbestos and its removal, said Marion Burnside, coordinator of the asbestos program for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Burnside said the DNR can offer assistance to property owners in developing a plan to have the asbestos removed from the site, but the property owners are responsible for arranging and paying for the cleanup.

Michelle Atienza and her husband, Dr. Salvador Atienza, own the building at 119 South Main St. that is the home of Dr. Atienza’s dental practice, Smiles on Main. The building was damaged in the fire and about half of the building had to be gutted, but work to renovate it is expected to be done by Christmas, Michelle Atienza said.

She said their insurance covered the cost of removing the asbestos and cleaning up a 15-foot-wide strip of property adjacent to theirs, which the DNR required before the exterior of the building could be repaired.

Maquoketa Mayor Tom Messerli said the city is in a difficult position because city officials want the mess cleaned up, but it is the financial responsibility of the property owners. Messerli said city officials have asked about whether there are any state or federal programs that could provide funding to cover the asbestos removal, with no success.

“We have been looking high and low,” he said. “There just isn’t anything that covers cleanup.”

A developer from the Quad-Cities had been considering buying the properties, paying for the cleanup and building

a Walgreens on the site, but that plan appears to be dead, Westphal said.

Messerli said city officials plan to meet soon with the property owners to come up with a new plan for getting the site cleared. Who will pay for it and how have yet to be determined.

Sen. Roger Stewart, D-Preston, said he also has made inquiries about finding funding from the state to help pay the costs of cleanup, but the amount of money required would likely require special legislation.

“Nobody seems to have an answer right now,” he said.

Westphal said she was devastated by the loss of her business, and decided to go back to school rather than reopen in another location. She said she hopes the community will be understanding as she and the property owners figure out a way to pay for the cleanup.

“There’s a lot more to it than people think,” she said.

Steven Martens can be contacted at (563) 659-2595 or smartens@qctimes.com.

Iowa fire fatalities in 2008 already at 2007 mark

DES MOINES — The deaths of Georgia Clayton and Frank Lowrick in a Davenport house fire last week brought the total number of fire deaths in Iowa to 35 this year, already surpassing last year’s total of 30, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Jessica Lown, a spokeswoman for the department, said what is most disturbing about the numbers is that six of the fatal fires were the result of the careless disposal of smoking materials and that in several cases the presence of a working smoke detector in the home may have given the victims more time to escape.

Lown said fire officials urge everyone to change the batteries in their smoke detectors when they move their clocks an hour forward or back in the fall and spring and to replace their smoke detectors every 10 years.

“When a fire starts in your house, every second counts,” she said.

Lown said smokers should consider smoking outside their home and should make sure smoking materials are completely extinguished before leaving them unattended.

— Steven Martens