VIRGINIA—There was both good news and bad news regarding the Eveleth campus abatement and demolition project at Monday’s Rock Ridge School Board meeting.
The project bids came in at about $4.54 million, which is more than $1.45 million under the $6 million that was budgeted.
Superintendent Noel Schmidt also informed the board the school district was sued by plaintiff Richard Klabechek of Anoka County to stop the abatement and demolition of the Eveleth campus school buildings. His lawsuit filed Friday led to a temporary restraining order on the abatement and demolition project.
A hearing has been set for April 11 for the school district to argue why the order should be removed.
“The district was served with a new lawsuit on Friday, March 22,’’ Schmidt said. “For some reason, people like suing you and you continue to prevail in your lawsuits.’’
“This litigation is nearly identical to the litigation commenced by Katherine Disterhaft … against the district on Jan. 19, 2024. The Disterhaft litigation involved the Gilbert school building that has since been demolished on the Gilbert campus.’’ He added the district’s defense was successful in the matter and should be concluding shortly.
Regarding the Eveleth buildings, Klabechek is alleging that the district can’t move ahead with abatement and demolition because the buildings are protected historic resources under the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act, according to Schmidt. The temporary restraining order was requested to prevent the district from impairing, altering, demolishing or destroying any parts of the school buildings.
The superintendent added Rock Ridge had no opportunity to respond before the temporary restraining order was handed down.
“The fact a temporary restraining order was issued does not mean there is any validity to his claims against the district.’’ The court did not make a decision on the merits of the case. “The plaintiff claimed he would suffer irreparable harm if the district was first given an opportunity to respond.’’
Schmidt believes the district is in a good position to have the order removed. “Based on what is known, we have a strong argument that it should be dissolved.’’
The lawsuit claims the district is seeking to demolish the buildings and without judicial action these historic resources will be lost with no exploration of alternatives to destruction for continued use.
To the contrary, Schmidt said the School Board has “done everything right’’ regarding building demolitions in the past few years. That includes listing the buildings with a realtor for two years, talking to a commercial broker to list the properties, anyone interested in looking at the buildings was able to walk through them, years have been spent talking to the Eveleth City Council, a consultant has been working on possibilities for the Eveleth site. Ultimately the Eveleth City Council decided they didn’t want any of the buildings, he added.
Also, none of the buildings have historic designations on them, the superintendent stated, and there haven’t been any offers that made financial sense.
Schmidt also cautioned the board the district does have “financial risk here’’ if there is a delay to abatement or demolition. Twenty-nine weeks of abatement was set to start April 1, with 30 weeks of demolition to begin on May 28.
The abatement contract was awarded to Titan Environmental for $1.024 million, while demolition was awarded to Rachel Contracting for $2.266 million. A fencing package was awarded to Keller Fence Co. for $82,430.
If the project has to be rebid, it could cost the district “hundreds of thousands of dollars,’’ he said. “It’s going to cost you money because you have to defend this.’’
School Board member Brandi Lautigar also wondered if Schmidt could put together a total of just how much was spent on litigating these kinds of lawsuits in recent years.
The superintendent said it has been tens of thousands, and he will compile a total.
Lautigar also questioned if the district can counter sue the plaintiff if the district incurs extra costs.
Schmidt said that is possible, but the first step is to go through the current lawsuit and present the district’s case to the judge.
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