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BOOK 95 PAGE 728 As indicated by staff at the dune 20, 1895 Board meeting, the abandoned gas station at 8980 U. S. Highway 1. in Wabasso has been the subject of code enforcement action for over a year. Despite various attempts, staff has been unable to serve the owner with formal notice of code enforcement action. In this case, code enforcement would probably be ineffective anyway, because soil contamination has severely reduced the property's value. Consequently, code enforcement staff recently requested that building division staff inspect the property. Upon inspection, building staff condemned the referenced structure and ordered the structure repaired or removed. Said- structure is considered unsafe and detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the general public. As per county code requirements, the Owner of the property was issued notices to repair or remove the structure, and advised of his right to appeal the condemnation order before the Indian River County Building Code Board of Adjustments and Appeals. In addition, condemnation cards were posted on the property. Because staff could not obtain legal service on the property owner for the. condemnation notice, a public notice was posted at the Indian River County Courthouse. ANALYSIS: The subject structure has been vacant for a considerable time. During that time, the building has continued to deteriorate and has been frequented by vandals and transients. Not only has the owner failed to maintain the structure in compliance with the Minimum Standard Codes, he has failed to bring the structure into compliance as required by posted notice. Since the owner has not filed an appeal to the condemnation order, the County may now proceed with demolition of the structure. Because of site remediation liability concerns; stag has been cautious in proceeding with demolition of the referenced structure. on dune 23, 1995, county stag met with Charles Vogt of the Environmental Health Department to discuss the most effective means of demolition of the nuisance structure, while limiting any County liability for environmental clean up. Mr. Vogt advised stag that, based upon prior work done on the site, he could stake out the location of the underground tanks. This will allow for heavy, rubber -wheeled trucks to approach the building from the rear and demolish it without disturbing the tanks themselves. He advised that any attempt to remove the tanks would probably cause an event of ,discharge because they are already cracked and may have -as much as 10% of the tanks' fuel remaining in them. Using a truck -mounted clam shell claw, county road and bridge crews can demolish the bulk of the building, with hand labor finishing off the work as necessary. The estimated cost of the demolition, including landfill fees, is approximately $6,500. With the rubber wheeled truck, clam shell claw, and hand disassembly, Mr. Vogt and county attorneys agree that the county will not incur liability for total site clean-up that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. With respect to the fuel pumps an site, Mr. Vogt has recommended that a specialty contractor be hired to accomplish removal. At an estimated cost of'$500, the contractor can disconnect and cap any piping leading from the below -ground tanks to the. station's pumps. This, too, should ensure that the county does not incur additional liability. Besides the abandoned building and pumps, there is a large dirt pile on the site. The dirt was recently stockpiled on site by a county utility contractor installing a wastewater line or U.S.#l. Because the dirt was excavated from the U.S.#1 right-of-way adjacent to the ga station site, the contaminated dirt was deposited on the subject property while the excavation was backfilled with clean fill. Whether or not the dirt piles can be removed is dependent upon the type of contamination. Testing to determine the type of contamination will cost $2, 000.00. If the dirt is simply contaminated with petroleum, this is considered non -hazardous and may be disposed of at a burn facility. This cost would be approximately $5,000. If, however, the dirt piles are contaminated with heavy metals or other hazardous materials, any shipping or disposal of the dirt pile would make the County liable for the clean up of the entire contaminated site, including any underground contamination. ALTERNATIVES: The county has several alternatives with respect to this matter. These are as follows: 1. Proceed with the demolition as outlined above. This would involve staking out the underground tanks; identifying safe routes for trucks to enter and demolish the building from the rear; having a pollution specialty contractor cap off any piping and remove the dispensing pumps; testing the dirt piles for signs of any hazardous materials or heavy metals; and removing the dirt piles to a burn facility If only petroleum is found. The total cost for this alternative would be approximately $14,000. 28 July 18, 1995