Judge holds contempt “open” regarding demolition of building in Wheeler
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
WHEELER — A Dunn County judge has kept a contempt of court issue open regarding the demolition of the former Groc-O-Mat building in Wheeler.
Laura Callope, an attorney representing the Village of Wheeler, told Judge Luke Wagner during a contempt of court hearing on August 4 that the village had not yet been able to make a site visit and that village officials were concerned the owner of the building, Wayne Rambo, has been taking the building down on his own, according to on-line court records.
Judge Wagner granted a raze order to the Village of Wheeler following a court hearing on January 29 for the former Groc-O-Mat building located at 315 Railroad Avenue.
The building was damaged by a fire decades ago.
Attorney Timothy Joseph O’Brien, representing the Village of Wheeler at the January 29 court hearing, told Judge Wagner that in a prior case filed in 2000, there was an agreement with Rambo to fix the property.
Rambo did not fix the property, and Judge Rod Smeltzer had granted a raze order in the case from the year 2000.
Village of Wheeler officials did not believe it was fair to proceed on a 20-year old order, so the village refiled the civil lawsuit for which Judge Wagner had granted the raze order earlier this year.
The Wheeler Village Board awarded the bid in June to raze the Rambo building at a cost of $29,500 to Gary Cormican Excavating out of Boyceville.
Author Morrisette, Wayne Rambo’s grandson, told the court at the August 4 contempt hearing that he has not heard from anyone about the building and that his grandfather had been hospitalized at the Veterans’ Administration hospital.
Rambo told the court that he has talked with an attorney and that he should be allowed more time to remove the larger items from the building.
Morrisette told the court he has been communicating with the contractor but that the Village of Wheeler has not contacted either him or Rambo.
After a conversation of several minutes “off the record,” Callope informed the court that there was an agreement to have all parts of the commercial building inspected on August 12.
Callope said she wanted it on the record that there were concerns about Rambo removing parts of the building that could cause safety issues for the people who will have to enter the building.
Judge Wagner noted the concerns and left the contempt of court issue open.
Before the building is demolished, the village must store any items remaining in the building off-site for six months, and then the village can sell or otherwise dispose of the items.
The cost of the removal of items and the storage, along with the cost of the demolition, will be included as a lien on the property taxes, so that when the parcel is sold or when the estate is settled after Rambo dies, the lien will be applied.
In the case from the year 2000, Rambo had filed an appeal of Judge Smeltzer’s order with the Court of Appeals, and in December of 2001, the Court of Appeals upheld Judge Smeltzer’s order.
On January 31, 2002, Wayne Rambo and Lyle Rambo filed a petition asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review the case.
On February 1, 2002, the Wisconsin Supreme Court dismissed the petition for review.
The village’s building inspector at the time, Fred Weber of Weber Inspections, conducted an inspection of the property on March 18, 2024.
On April 2, 2024, Weber issued an order for the property, giving Rambo until April 30 to “(1) make the building safe and sanitary in compliance with the Village’s code; or (2) raze and remove the building on the Property and restore the site to a dust-free and erosion-free condition.”
The Cormican bid includes the option of hauling in black dirt and seeding the site after the demolition is completed or hauling in crushed rock to finish off the site.
