CETC granted clemency from

Despite Commissioner Pat O’Neill’s calls to tear down the “money drain,” Whitman County commissioners Tuesday decided to let the CETC building in Colfax stand for another year.

O’Neill said the county is losing $5,000 a year in bills for electricity, heat and water to the building.

“To spend $5,000 a year on something we’re not getting any return on doesn’t make a lot of sense for me,” said O’Neill. “It is a money drain.”

He suggested tearing the building down now.

Commissioner Greg Partch, though, thought the building is a “benefit not only for the city but for the residents of Whitman County.”

Partch said he would prefer to save the building, so the county can repair it in a better economic climate.

O’Neill said he did not envision a time when the county would be able to make those full repairs. He added the jail and the Public Service Building will soon need major renovations or replacement.

“We’re lucky to keep them going right now,” said O’Neill.

Commissioner Michael Largent said he would rather leave the building’s fate in the hands of Bob Reynolds, county facilities manager.

The county received just under $15,000 from its insurance company, Traveler’s, to repair damages sustained to the building during the heavy snow of January 2009.

Reynolds and Whitman County Public Works Director Mark Storey told commissioners a full repair to the structure would cost up to $150,000.

“It’s not going to get better with time,” said Storey. “It’s not something we can ignore.”

The snow and ice load crumpled the roof, which almost collapsed into the building. Storey said engineers determined support trusses would need to be repaired, and the back portion of the building’s foundation, built on river silt, would need to be rebuilt to bring it up to code.

County officials have closed the building during the ensuing winter months, out of fear of its roof failing under heavy snow.

It has been open between March and October each year since, hosting public forums like the permit hearing for First Wind’s wind farm and was the scene of a poker tournament during last year’s Hullabaloo.

It has also been used as a space to train nursing students.

The CETC building was constructed by the Colfax Elks Lodge in 1972, after the club’s former home burned down. When the lodge folded, the building was deeded to a community organization with the hopes it would become a satellite training center for the Community Colleges of Spokane. The building was eventually given to the county by the Port of Whitman.