Vienna officials get new perspective on Johns Manville cleanup
Photo by Jeff Baughan An aerial view of the Johns Manville plant cleanup shown during Thursday’s Vienna City Council meeting.
Photo by Jeff Baughan Vienna Mayor Randy Rapp speaks during Thursday’s council meeting after explaining how the Johns Manville plant cleanup was progressing.
Photo by Jeff Baughan The Johns Manville plant cleanup is nearly completed with the exception of the removal of the standing warehouse.
Photo by Jeff Baughan An aerial view of the Johns Manville plant cleanup shown during Thursday’s Vienna City Council meeting.
Photo by Jeff Baughan Vienna Mayor Randy Rapp speaks during Thursday’s council meeting after explaining how the Johns Manville plant cleanup was progressing.
Photo by Jeff Baughan The Johns Manville plant cleanup is nearly completed with the exception of the removal of the standing warehouse.
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VIENNA -- Members of the Vienna City Council got a bird's-eye view of the Johns Manville Plant property Thursday evening via drone video, finding the property is close to the final part of the project.
"Everything which has been removed has been taken to an approved site," Vienna Mayor Randy Rapp told council as the video progressed. "The steel from the site has been recycled."
Rapp said bids will soon be accepted for the removal of the warehouse. "There are walls with Transite wall boarding with asbestos remaining in it," he said. "Those walls will be taken down, stacked and then removed."
Rapp said the wall boardings were each approximately four-feet by eight-feet in size.
He added there had been no issues with air quality tests, no contaminants released into the air and no citizens placed in any risk during the cleanup.
Council member Jim Leach, who spoke briefly after Rapp completed his review of the video, stated after the meeting the council "expected to soon have a different posture around Johns Manville on the opposite side of River Road. It's been tested for the risk assessment and we're working toward a certificate of completion.
"We expect there to be some restrictions with the property but it's expected to come back as approved for recreational use," Leach said. "We are hopeful everything will come back good and we'll be able to close the site," as regard to any more testing. "We expect this to happen just about any time."
Vienna Finance Director Amy Roberts presented the 2016-17 report for the Vienna Policemen's Pension obligation following the Johns Manville report.
"There was an 11 percent rate of return on the investments," she said. "There have been some wise decisions made by past financial directors. The fund has been well managed over the years."
Roberts said with the success of the year's returns and applying it to pension obligations, the $3.2 million obligation was dropped to $2.3 million. "The pension ended the year at $7,603,876.05 for a net increase of $929,003.37," she told council.
In other council news:
* Rapp announced a special city council meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30 at the 60th Street location. Rapp said it would be a joint meeting between Vienna City Council and the Vienna Utility Board concerning water issues.
* Following a short executive session, Rapp announced the session was "an informational one only. It will be addressed at a council meeting at a later time." He added after the meeting, the session was for "a piece of property the city was considering purchasing."
* The Vienna City Hall will be closed Sept. 4 in recognition of Labor Day.