Troy Manor Motel Donated to the City of Lamar

The Lamar City Council did not hold a meeting for the Urban Development Authority this past Monday, August 12^th, but the council ratified an earlier phone poll approving a letter of intent regarding the Troy Manor Motel property acceptance of donation.  The property, at 1101 South Main Street, had been owned by Cruikshank Realty for several years and over the past several years, both the county and the city had expressed separate interests in the land which is bordered by a Loaf and Jug C-Store to the south and the County Annex to the north.  The council phone poll was conducted on July 23^rd and prior to that, the council held an executive session regarding negotiations for the property which has been unused for almost two decades.  Mayor Roger Stagner said the city plans to, “tear it down and clean it up”.  He added, “We’re still going to look for Brownfield’s funding for the clean-up.  The funding will be used for asbestos removal and once all that is done, it’ll be put up for sale.  Hopefully we can use that site as a future retail business of some type.”  City Administrator, John Sutherland, said he’s been in contact with an EPA representative who suggested that he is aware that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, CDPHE received an infusion of money and they don’t have any projects on the list yet, so he urged me to make contact with the state to see about applying for funding.”

Although some of the asbestos at the Troy Manor can be dumped in the city landfill, other sections will have to be sent to a secure landfill area. Sutherland said there has been two reports on the site, one most recently by a remediation specialist who advised the city on the condition of the property.

The Colorado Brownfields Foundation surveyed the land as far back as April, 2011 with former City Code Enforcement Officer, Bobby Ward, attempting to determine the amount of asbestos contained in the former motel. At that time, the city landfill was not equipped to handle friable asbestos.

By Russ Baldwin