The city of Marthasville is hiring a company to demolish six vacant homes and the town’s abandoned hat factory at the cost of $128,000.

The Marthasville Board of Aldermen voted 4-0 at its July 28 meeting to approve Donald Martin Construction out of Hannibal as the contractor for the demolitions. A large portion of the project cost is being provided through a Missouri community development block grant that was awarded by the Department of Economic Development in 2020.

The goal of the demolitions is to remove structures that have become so rundown that they’re little more than health and safety hazards, and breeding grounds for vermin, city officials have said. The project will also open up ground for future redevelopment. The six homes slated for demolition are all privately owned by people who have agreed to allow the demolitions. The abandoned hat factory is owned by the city government, purchased several years ago for this purpose.

Donald Martin Construction submitted the second-lowest bid price for the demolition project. Mayor David Lange said the lowest bid was from Gibson Hauling of Warrenton, but that the company failed to follow bidding procedure and was disqualified.

“(Project managers) booted their bid out. Their bid wasn’t complete. ... They didn’t even use the bid form. Their paperwork was all out of whack,” Lange said.

Ten total companies from as far as Cape Girardeau submitted bids for the demolition project. Most of the bids ranged from the mid-hundred thousands up to more than $200,000.

Lange commented that Donald Martin Construction has previous familiarity with grant-funded demolition projects and has the approval of project managers with Boonslick Regional Planning Commission.

The Department of Economic Development has awarded Marthasville up to $135,000 for the project, including for inspections and environmental surveys that were already completed. Up to $107,000 in grant funds are alloted to the actual demolitions, Lange said. 

The grant is intended to cover up to 80 percent of the project cost, with Marthasville covering at least 20 percent – an estimated $28,000 in cash and $4,000 worth of in-kind labor, Lange said.

Alderman Nick Lange said the lowest demolition bids were actually cheaper than the estimated project cost, saving the city tax dollars. Early estimates suggested the lowest bids wouldn’t be less than $160,000.

“The bids came in very well, to where a lot of it will be covered by the grant – more than I anticipated,” Alderman Lange said. 

The demolition project is being managed by Boonslick Regional Planning Commission project coordinator Chuck Eichmeyer. He said the next step is to begin coordinating with the selected contractor and make sure the remaining paperwork is in order to proceed with demolitions.

“If everything goes right, I would think sometime in early fall you should see something happen,” Eichmeyer said.

Although the project is seen as an economic boon, it did get pushback from a small number of residents when it was announced last year. Those critics say public tax dollars are being used to bail out irresponsible property owners who allowed houses they own to become derelict and unusable. The removal of those houses at the public’s expense could improve the value of those private properties.

These are the structures that the city plans to demolish: