Commissioners pursue Brownfields subgrant for old-hospital asbestos cleanup; estimate about $218,000

County officials moved to begin Brownfields subgrant steps for asbestos abatement and demolition planning at the county’s old hospital.

Willie, a consultant from Newfields, reviewed prior cleanup alternatives and an engineer’s abatement estimate prepared roughly two-and-a-half years earlier. Alternative 2 in that study — focused on demolition with segregated handling of tarry roof asbestos rather than roof scraping — was estimated at about $218,000 at the time and did not include project management or post‑clearance testing. Willie recommended considering either adding a contingency to the engineer estimate and seeking funding first or assembling hard bids before pursuing funding, noting both approaches have trade-offs.

Great Northern Development Corporation (GNDC) has a Brownfields subgrant track and County staff reported receiving a subgrant application form the morning of the meeting. GNDC indicated typical subgrant awards in prior conversations are around $200,000. Willie explained that accredited asbestos clearances and qualified abatement contractors will be required and suggested coordinating the hospital abatement with a separate, smaller museum abatement to achieve efficiencies. He advised that contractor availability in summer can be tight because of school renovation schedules and that a realistic schedule from funding approval to final reporting is roughly four months.

Commissioners scheduled a Teams meeting with Carly at Great Northern for Monday, March 3, to discuss the subgrant application and roles for management, testing and reporting. County staff said the hospital has a demolition plan direction and the county can contribute local cost-share or pay for program management as needed. Next steps are to complete the subgrant application, consider adding contingency to the budget, and decide whether to solicit hard bids before or after funding approval.