HOT SPRINGS, AR – The city council has voted to condemn the site of the Majestic Hotel, which burned in February 2014.
The decision came in a meeting Monday night.
The city says the Majestic’s owner, Gary Hassenflu, will now be served with a notice and given 30 days to either secure and cleanup the property or raze it. At the end of 30 days, a $250 a day fine per parcel of land (there are two) will begin to be imposed.
Hassenflu’s own deadline for cleanup of the rubble* was March 5. However, in a March 2 letter to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), Hassenflu’s attorney asked for an extension for completion of the cleanup. He cited the inability of Hassenflu’s company to “acquire sufficient funding to complete the remediation project.” The letter included information that Hassenflu has “submitted a loan application for funding of the remediation work, and has received confirmation that the loan application is currently being processed.”
A spokesperson with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) says the state denied Hassenflu’s March 2 request for an extension for the cleanup. The agency says no state fines have been levied against Hassenflu.
Last night’s action by the Hot Springs city council is the first step for the city of Hot Springs to take over ownership of the property (or whatever else it might be able to afford as a city).
*includes brick and asbestos removal, tank removal, testing of stormwater remaining on the site for hazardous contaminants