SHELBY – The saga of the former Napoli’s Pizza building demolition has finally come to a close as Napoli’s owner Greg Beard has agreed to a repayment plan with the city of Shelby.
According to a resolution passed by Shelby City Council on Monday night, the city of Shelby acquired the title to the former Napoli’s parcel of real estate for use as municipal property. In addition, the city accepted a cognovit note from Beard.
A cognovit note is similar to a promissory note, a written promise to pay money. With the cognovit note, Beard acknowledges his debt to the city of Shelby with the understanding that if the debt is not repaid, a court may order a judgment against Beard without the usual notice or hearing.
The cognovit note between Beard and the city of Shelby states that Beard agrees to pay the city $40,000 at 3 percent interest over 17 years. Payments will begin on June 1 at $250.55 per month.
The amount was established on Sept. 11, 2015 when Mayor Steve Schag entered into a demolition contract in conjunction with the Richland County Land Reutilization Corporation and Page Excavating, Inc. for a total of $95,000 to bring down the crumbling Napoli’s building. The cost was split down the middle between the city and the Land Reutilization Corporation, with each contributing $47,500.
Schag then signed a demolition agreement between the city of Shelby, the Land Reutilization Corporation and Beard to allow the demolition process to begin as soon as possible.
At that time, Beard agreed to eventually transfer the deed of the former Napoli’s property to the city for a credit of $7,500 and to provide a promissory note payable to the city for $40,000. If the city had chosen not to accept ownership of the property, Beard would have provided a promissory note payable to the city for the full $47,500.
The agreement also stated that Beard would provide an unsecured promissory note for $47,500 to the Land Reutilization Corporation, upon the terms of zero percent interest, a one-year deferment of the first payment from the date of signing, and monthly payments of $391.
The Napoli’s Pizza building was officially demolished in about six hours on Sept. 12, 2015. The historic building, first built in 1896, was condemned on Sept. 1, 2015 after a steel column supporting the northeast corner of the building failed.
On Jan. 24, five months after the building was condemned and demolished, Beard was able to re-open Napoli’s Pizza at a new location at 126 Broadway St. in Shelby. The former building is now a plot of land that will be incorporated into the new Blackfork Commons park in downtown Shelby.
“There’s no other use for it being it’s in the floodplain, so it makes sense to be part of the park system,” Schag said in a previous Richland Source article.
