Sheldon, Iowa — The barricades will remain in place, at least for now, on the alley and the property adjacent to the south side of the H.C. Lane building in downtown Sheldon.
The alley and adjacent property was barricaded a few weeks ago by order of the Sheldon City Council after a state building inspector expressed concern that a portion of the south wall of the structure could collapse. In the days following that meeting, the building’s owner, along with his local agent, had secured the services of structural engineer Wayne Schlotfedlt to inspect the structure and come back with his recommendations. After Schlotfeldt’s inspection, the building owner’s contractor shored up a portion of the west end of the south wall to prevent collapse.
At the April 17th meeting of the Sheldon City Council, the building owner’s agent,Rod Fonkert, told the council about the work that had been completed. The council agreed to remove the barricades once Schlotfeldt provided the City with his assurance that the shoring up of the south wall is sufficient to justify reopening the alley.
On Wednesday of this week, Schlotfeldt sent an email to Fonkert, which Fonkert then forwarded to the City, in which Schlotfeldt said he had inspected the wall on four separate days and felt that, barring any additional problems that might develop, in his words, “the wall should be adequate as braced.” In that email, Schlotfeldt recommended that the permanent repairs take place as soon as possible, and that he would like to see the permanent repairs completed within the next two weeks.
Later Wednesday afternoon City Manager Sam Kooiker sent an email to Fonkert, and the building’s owner, Danny Lane. KIWA has obtained a copy of that email, in which Kooiker says the City appreciates the update, and also would like to see that alley and adjacent property reopened sooner rather than later. The email went on to say, “However, per the City’s interpretation of Wayne Schlotfeldt’s email, it does not seem he is prepared to unequivocally state that the temporary bracing is sufficient to justify the reopening of the alley.” Kooiker noted Schlotfeldt’s feeling that the permanent repairs should be completed within two weeks, and then, to quote Kooiker’s email, “Per the Council’s previous direction, the City will need an unequivocal statement from Mr. Schlotfeldt, with his signature, that the alley can be reopened. It makes more sense to simply complete the permanent repairs ASAP, and then reopen the alley when the repair has been approved by Wayne Schlotfeldt.”
Kooiker tells KIWA that he plans to, once more, have the issue of the Lane building on the agenda for the City Council’s regular meeting on May 1st.
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Original post 2:26 pm, April 24, 2019
Sheldon, Iowa — At their regular meeting on April 3rd the Sheldon City Council directed Public Works Director Todd Uhl to block off the alley behind the H.C. Lane Building in Sheldon’s downtown, as well as the parking lot of the building to the south of the Lane Building, the old Eagles Club location. The barricades were ordered due to concerns expressed by the State Building Inspector that there was a danger of the south wall of the Lane Building collapsing.
At that April 3rd meeting the council received an email from a structural engineer hired by the Lane Building’s local agent, Rod Fonkert, which Fonkert had forwarded to the City. In that email, the engineer, Wayne Schlotfeldt, agreed with the state inspector that part of the south wall had been compromised, and no longer provided structural support for the south wall. In the email, Schlotfeldt recommended steps for repairing the damage to the south wall, and suggested temporarily shoring up the south wall until permanent repairs could be completed. In light of that email, the council voted to erect the barricades for an initial period of two weeks, saying they expected the wall to be stabilized within that two-week period.
At last week’s council meeting the group told Fonkert that the barricades would be taken down as soon as the City received certification from Schlotfeldt that the wall had been sufficiently stabilized. The council further indicated that they’d like to have the complete repair project finished within 90-days. They also thanked Fonkert for his cooperation in dealing with the situation.
Wednesday (April 24th) afternoon, Fonkert shared with KIWA an email that he had also forwarded to the City of Sheldon, from structural engineer Wayne Schlotfeldt, indicating that the engineer had reviewed the temporary measures put in place on the south side of the building, and monitored the wall for signs of additional cracking from that modification. Schlotfeldt indicated that he had measured the existing wall cracks Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, and based upon that information, in his words, “it appears the wall is stable with no additional crack propagation or change in condition.” Schlotfeldt’s email went on to say, “Unless there are additional problems that develop prior to the reconstruction being done the wall should be adequate as braced.” Schlotfeldt goes on to say that the permanent reconstruction of the wall will require additional bracing including the use of beams that he has discussed with the contractor hired to make the repairs. In the email Schlotfeldt said he would recommend that the permanent repairs take place as soon as possible, saying that he’d like to see the work finished within two-weeks.
