Mt. Morris trustees accept bid to demolish 1 N. Wesley Ave.

MT. MORRIS – The Mt. Morris Village Board on Tuesday selected a company to demolish the second downtown building destroyed in a fire six months ago.

On Nov. 12, board members unanimously voted to accept a $12,845.50 bid from R.E. Wolber & Sons Excavating of Mt. Morris to demolish and clean up 1 N. Wesley Ave.

"To me, it's a no-brainer, Wolber being half the price of everyone else," Public Property and Ordinance Trustee Mike Fay said.

Village Board members considered two other bids for the project. One was from Steve Benesh & Sons of Oregon for $22,670, and the other from Mulroy Demolition & Excavation LLC of Lincolnwood for $23,000.

Both 1 N. Wesley Ave. and 3 N. Wesley Ave. – the latter of which housed Sharky's Sports Bar – were total losses following an April 16 fire.

On Monday, Oct. 28, the village bought 1 N. Wesley Ave. for $1,000 from Brock and Heather Swanlund, according to Ogle County property tax records. The village did not buy 3 N. Wesley Ave.

Double Duce Corp., in the care of Michael Rossi, is listed as the owner of 3 N. Wesley Ave., according to property tax records.

Sharky's Sports Bar, at 3 N. Wesley Ave. is owned by Pamela Rossi, according to Ogle County court documents.

Demolition of 3 N. Wesley Ave. started Oct. 21.

"One of the things we need to be careful of is making sure that, given the village's current relationship with the neighbor, we want to make sure the demo activities are limited to 1 N. Wesley," Village Attorney Rob LeSage told Village Board members. "Whoever does the demolition work needs to be instructed and encouraged to follow those [property] lines."

The village likely will have the property surveyed and the property lines of 1 N. Wesley Ave. clearly marked for contractors before demolition starts, Village President Phil Labash said.

On Oct. 21, Pamela Rossi filed a complaint for injunctive relief against the village of Mt. Morris and the Swanlunds, asking the court to prohibit the village from purchasing 1 N. Wesley Ave. and to prohibit the Swanlunds from selling the property.

According to the complaint, Rossi intends to sue the village and Swanlunds for negligence, violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, public nuisance and various common law tort claims arising from the fire.

The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law to all people within the U.S. A plaintiff injured by a defendant's wrongful act can file a tort lawsuit to recover money from that defendant, according to the Congressional Research Service.

If the village of Mt. Morris buys 1 N. Wesley Ave., it "would effectively complicate [Rossi's] ability to seek full and fair relief," according to the complaint.

On Oct. 25, Ogle County Judge John Redington denied Rossi's request.

Rossi had until Nov. 13 to file an amended complaint, according to Redington's order. The village and the Swanlunds must respond to any amended complaint by Dec. 4.

A status hearing on the case is set for 11 a.m. Dec. 20.

At 1:33 p.m. April 16, the Mt. Morris Fire Protection District was alerted to flames coming from an apartment in the building at 1 N. Wesley Ave.

The fire quickly spread to Sharky's Sports Bar because of strong winds and the absence of a firewall separating the two structures. The fire was extinguished by 5 p.m., with most mutual-aid companies released by 7 p.m.

The Mt. Morris Fire Protection District requested a Mutual Aid Box Alarm System Box 15 to the third-alarm level for additional assistance from Advanced EMS, 11 area fire protection districts and Ogle County Emergency Management.

The fire's cause was ruled undetermined, said JC Fultz, public information officer for the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office. The case is closed on their end, he said.