The Reno County Commission approved language for a contract with Interfaith Housing Services on Tuesday that will have the county temporarily assume ownership of the former St. Elizabeth Hospital in Hutchinson to allow the nonprofit to apply for federal funds to abate asbestos.

The commission heard the request last week but wanted county counselor Patrick Hoffman to draft an agreement to protect the county from liability when assuming ownership

The contract requires Interfaith to add the county to its insurance on the building. The county also planned to buy a separate insurance rider for additional liability coverage, with Interfaith agreeing to pay for the insurance and cover any deductible.

“You can’t ever completely get rid of 100% of risk,” Hoffman said. “The only way to get rid of all risk is to not do anything.”

Commissioner Ron Hirst said the language answered all his concerns.

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Commissioner Ron Sellers noted he appreciated Hoffman drafting the agreement so quickly to allow Interfaith to proceed with making an application to the Environmental Protection Agency for a Brownfield grant.

“I appreciate your creativity working on this issue,” Commission Chair Daniel Friesen said. “Obviously, it has been a blighted property and may be a challenge for your organization for some time. I appreciate you moving forward on it.”

Friesen also encouraged county and Interfaith staff to work with the city of Hutchinson.

“Given it’s within the city, they have some opportunity to benefit as well,” he said. “I know at one time they were not as interested in supporting this, for whatever reason, but I’m sure they can see the value here, so I continue to encourage involvement with them.”

Interfaith has been working with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment to identify environmental concerns in the building and find a way to address them, said Clint Nelson, director of Housing Development at Interfaith.

Besides asbestos in ceilings and piping insulation throughout the building, lead pipes and other “hydraulic spillage” issues need addressing before they can even demolish the 65,000-square-foot structure, Nelson said last week.

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Earlier state surveys estimated remediation costs at $800,000 to $1 million, Nelson said.

Because the EPA received significant additional funding to address contaminated properties around the country, Nelson said he's hopeful the agency will cover all remediation costs.

They expect grant awards to be announced in January.

Then once the building, constructed in the 1920s as a 107-bed Catholic hospital and later converted into apartments, is cleared, they can develop plans for remodeling it or tearing it down to clear the ground for further development.