Negotiations on the Riverside Community Building rental agreement were discussed at the recent Riverside City Council meeting.

A lease agreement was presented to John Sojka to rent the property at 81 East First Street. Sojka intended to purchase the building last fall, but it was discovered it still had stockholders from the former Riverside City Corporation. Sojka says he wants to start renovating the property, specifically taking out a drop ceiling and possibly the second ceiling above it. Sojka says he has at least one other tenant that will use the space, and he doesn’t find the building’s current conditions suitable for that business.

Sojka commented on the city’s process of gaining ownership of the building, “It does concern me the open-ended nature of what is happening here. You know, I thought we were going to close in December, but obviously everybody had a wrench thrown into the transmission.”

Councilmember Bob Schneider proposed the lease agreement include reimbursing Sojka for costs of ceiling removal if the building purchase doesn’t go through. Councilmember Robert Weber was in favor, saying the city would still end up with a better building. Action on the lease agreement has been tabled until their next meeting.