Patience is wearing thin, yet again, at North Battleford council over repairs at the car wash building in the city's north end.
Commercial bays located between Aaron's and the A&W, at 2112 - 100th St., have been in disrepair after being damaged by fire last summer.
The property was hit by a demolition order, but council granted an appeal last November after the Calgary-based owners agreed to pay back taxes and to a long list of commitments to repair and renovate the damaged building.
The pace of repairs since has not impressed councillors, who are once again talking about possibly taking action on the property.
At a May 22 municipal services meeting, councillors received an update on the status of the repairs. City Manager Jim Toye relayed correspondence from the owners of 2112 100th Street that work was continuing at the building. In that correspondence the owners pledged to have work at the building done by June 15.
While Councillor Brad Pattinson acknowledged the car wash upgrades by saying the building looked considerably better than it had before, "it's about time," he said. Questions were still raised about whether the repairs had gone far enough.
Councillor Don Buglas noted he had been in contact with a community group of eight individuals who were keeping a close eye on the building.
"They're a little annoyed," said Buglas.
"They're saying in their opinion things haven't been brought to a level they understood they were going to be brought to when the discussion took place here with mayor and council."
Buglas added he agreed with them, pointing to trees in the back that weren't dealt with yet. The façade of the building has been touched upon, said Buglas, but "it hasn't gone much further."
At the Monday's council, City Building Inspector Jerry Wintonyk admitted to council that "it has been very slow" making the owners comply with their commitments, with the Calgary-based owners having been through three different handyman-type contractors since they have started.
He did say, though, they were starting to see progress on the exterior of the building. But the building department also confirmed work was not yet started on the interior and that the owners had not yet submitted a date for interior development.
In response, Councillor Trent Houk made clear his frustrations.
"I for one am not willing to wait around for another 30 days," said Houk, who said it was coming up to a year since the property was damaged.
He wanted to know if the city would re-issue the demolition order on the property if there substantial completion was not achieved.
While that prospect remains a possibility, no further action was taken Monday.
Instead council intends to revisit the issue of the car wash at their June 11th meeting, four days before the owners' self-imposed target date for completing exterior repairs.
