By DENISE A. RAYMO
Staff Writer
March 28, 2008 04:00 am
—
MALONE -- A Syracuse demolition company will get $37,500 from the Village of Malone to settle a lawsuit over the once-planned demolition of the Hotel Flanagan.
Bianchi Demolition Services Inc. and the village agreed to the out-of-court settlement rather than go to trial, where the company was seeking $180,000, said Mayor Brent Stewart.
The money will come out of the general fund, along with $17,160 for the attorney fees for James Brooks, who represented the village in the case, Stewart said.
"Who knows what it would have been if it would have gone to court? It could have been any number," the mayor said. "This ends it."
SPECIAL MEETING
Stewart got the settlement proposal and called a special meeting of the Village Board for Thursday morning to discuss ending the nearly two-year-old lawsuit.
He and Trustees Dailon Patnode and Susan Hafter approved two separate budget transfers to pay the money. Trustees Todd Lepine and Lenora Richards were not available.
"This was not initiated by my administration," Stewart said. "This had been going on before I came into office and has been looming over the village for going on four years.
"I'm glad it's over."
Bianchi sued the village for breach of contract in June 2005, stating that it should have been paid the entire $459,000 it was awarded in October 2003 when it agreed to tear down either the entire five-story structure or the top three floors, depending on the board's wishes.
The work would be paid for using $360,000 promised by U.S. Rep. John McHugh (R-Pierrepont Manor) and $140,000 left over from an unspent 1999 low-income-housing loan from the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development.
AGREEMENT
Bianchi had made its agreement with the administration of former Mayor Richard "Joe" Gokey and former Trustees Michael Maneely, Michael Hicks and Gordon Crossman, who is now the District 3 representative on the Franklin County Legislature, and current Trustee Richards.
Bianchi had agreed to safely remove existing asbestos, as well as multiple tons of debris and pigeon droppings that had accumulated while the hotel sat vacant for nearly six years following an unsolved arson fire in 1997.
With the proper work permits in hand, a Bianchi team began preliminary demolition work in September 2003 by erecting a chain-link fence around the rear of the property, cutting down two trees out front and having the electricity restored.
But the work ended a month later when Town Supervisor Howard Maneely wrote to HUD, warning that the money should be held up because proper environmental studies were not done.
The State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation also had misgivings about the plan, thinking the place could gain status on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Bianchi was paid $68,850 for the work it had accomplished and was told in October 2004 that the contract was dead.
Stewart was elected mayor a month later, and the new administration asked the company for its money back. Bianchi responded by filing the suit, and the village sought to have it thrown out.
St. Lawrence County Supreme Court Justice David Demerest upheld the merits of the case, and the village lost its appeal of the decision in June 2007.
FLANAGAN UPDATE
In April 2004, a group of investors called UICC Holding LLC bought the Flanagan for $1 from its former ownership group, TriCo, and its principle owner, Colleen Main.
UICC Holding has proposed spending $10 million to renovate the property into a Best Western franchise. The anticipated opening date was announced as Memorial Day 2008.
Cleanup work continued until late last fall, but few people have been seen around the site since.
Project Manager Paul Abruzzi said in January that work teams would be returning in early February, but little activity has taken place around the building since then.
More recent attempts by the Press-Republican to reach UICC representatives have not been successful.
Stewart said the last time he spoke with UICC officials, they had a target of April to resume work on the Flanagan.
draymo@pressrepublican.com
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