City may have jumped gun on cleanup threat
By Joey Berlin
Originally published 12:59 p.m., May 13, 2008
Updated 12:59 p.m., May 13, 2008
Owners of Emporia Pallets Plus said the arson-ravaged building on Kansas Highway 99 hasn’t been cleaned up yet because the owners didn’t have approval from the fire marshal or Pallets Plus’ insurance company to touch the property.
But Fire Marshal Tom Andrews said his office released the building on Dec. 27, the day after the fire.
The city commission said last week at its action meeting that the city and county would push for a cleanup. Danny Wasson, an owner of the Emporia branch of the Topeka-based business, said Pallets Plus got a phone call from the fire marshal on Friday releasing the property. Pallets Plus still needs approval from the insurance company before it can start cleaning up, he said.
“Tom called me and said that the building, as far as he was concerned, was released, but he had to send that to the insurance company, and then we’re waiting on the insurance company to release it,” Wasson said.
However, Andrews said all that needed to be done for the fire marshal to release the building was to give the owner a phone call and notify them verbally, which was done on Dec. 27th.
“And apparently, there was miscommunication or something,” Andrews said. “Because they were not aware that we had turned that back over to them. So I’m really not sure what happened there. But we finished our investigation of the scene on the 27th. And it’s just normal that when we’re done with the scene, we give the owner a phone call and tell them that we’re turning it back over to them.”
Pallets Plus never called the fire marshal’s office during the four months it thought the property was still off-limits, Andrews said.
“And it would be very unusual to hold a property for this long,” he said. “If we do hold a property for more than one day, we have to leave somebody on scene.”
Andrews said he spoke to Lori George, a representative of Pallets Plus in Topeka, on Friday, and told her he would send the business a letter releasing the building. But Andrews said that letter wasn’t official notification. He said City Manager Matt Zimmerman and Fire Chief Jack Taylor asked him to send the letter.
Pallets Plus is outside the city limits, but in the metropolitan planning area, so the city would enforce regulations against it with county approval, Zimmerman said last week. The business has been operating at 1771 Road G since January and has a 14-month lease on that building, according to co-owner Lee Ann Sumter. Sumter said the business plans to move back to its Highway 99 property once its lease on Road G is up.
George couldn’t be reached Tuesday morning.
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Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on May 13, 2008 at 3:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
why is this in the paper? isnt this between the fire dept., the insurance company, and the owners?
Posted by madpoet (anonymous) on May 13, 2008 at 3:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I gather neighbors were complaining about the mess not being cleaned up so the Gazette ran a story about it. I'd have thought someone would have called the fire marshall before now to check if they could do anything with the property, though. Pallets Plus dropped the ball, I think.
Posted by blulitespecial (anonymous) on May 13, 2008 at 4:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think it should be in the fire marshal's court,and it should be a documented policy.Not"well,we just call,maybe,and don't think a letter is official".This isn't the first time the city ,and county,too decided they don't have to talk to people or insurance companies about getting a matter resolved.It would pay the local government to have communications and a binding policy in place for fire and weather property destruction,ambulance run billing,and the like.As it is, people are left in the wind.Insurance companies and businesses have come into the 21st century.Government has not.The city has it's head in the sand,and is doing all of us a disservice. Been there.......
Posted by Kstrebuchet (anonymous) on May 13, 2008 at 4:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Andrews said all that needed to be done for the fire marshal to release the building was to give the owner a phone call and notify them verbally, which was done on Dec. 27th.?
I think the Fire Marshal should give a written release to the owners so when cleanup begins, there is proof the property is released and any investigation is complete.
"Andrews said he spoke to Lori George, a representative of Pallets Plus in Topeka, on Friday, and told her he would send the business a letter releasing the building. But Andrews said that letter wasn’t official notification."
What? a phone call is "normal" and enough of a release but a "letter" is not official notification? Sounds backwards to me.
Posted by create (anonymous) on May 13, 2008 at 5:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Get it in writing, no matter what. Document. Document. Document.
Posted by emporialifer (anonymous) on May 13, 2008 at 5:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You guys nailed it - I wouldn't blame them for not thinking it was legitimately "released" until I had something in writing. Can you imagine, Pallets takes the Fire Dept's phone call as truth, cleans up and then tries to collect and the insurance company says no way.
It's unfortunate, but the good ol' days of the hand shake and word meaning something are long gone. Then again, that might have something to do with memories, I know mine falters all the time.
Posted by BigGuy (anonymous) on May 13, 2008 at 6:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Reminds me of when Bruffs burned down. Gary Burgess was told he had to knock down the remaining walls immediately by the city. By doing so it cost him a ton of federal money that he would have been eligible for to restore a historic building.
Posted by rdgrey (anonymous) on May 13, 2008 at 9:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Are we trying to push yet anouther employer out of emporia?
Posted by Kstrebuchet (anonymous) on May 13, 2008 at 10:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I dont think anyone is trying to push yet another employer out of emporia, just stating the obvious. The policy on how a building is released needs some work.
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