DAVENPORT, Iowa — The city of Davenport has approved $1.2 million in payments for cleanup of the collapsed apartment building on 324 Main Street.
The amount was approved at the June 28 city council meeting, which will be paid to the D.W. Zinser Company.
The approved payment is on top of over $300,000 spent on landfill costs, first responders, engineering and PR services.
Before the meeting, people gathered across the street from city hall for a vigil, honoring the three lives lost from the collapse.
Susie Lehmann struggled to look at the framed photo of Ryan Hitchcock, her friend and one of the victims. She described how they first met.
"That was about 10 years ago," Lehmann said. "Ryan was a popular DJ in the area. That was back in the day when I used to like to go to bars. And then I quit coming to the bars as well, and Ryan turned his life over to God, and finally found housing in [the collapsed] building."
While the vigil was a small gathering, the community was still chanting, "No justice, no peace," "We want answers" and similar phrases from previous protests.
"Why did Ryan have to die?" Lemann said. "He was so happy. He got an apartment and then he died in it. I just wanna know why this happened and what's gonna be done about this, and what they're gonna do to keep this from happening again in the future."
The June 28 council meeting is the fourth one since the collapse, with fewer people speaking out on the collapse compared to previous meetings. However, a select few seemed determined to remain vocal.
"You guys already made us look like a laughing fool when the building came down," one man said. "Anytime we can stop would be greatly appreciated."
"One month ago today, the voices of Brandon, Ryan and Daniel were silenced forever when they lost their lives in the senseless tragedy," one woman said. "We are now their voices and we will not be ignored. We will not be silent until justice is served."
One of them was Ron Schwener, who has been coming to city council meetings for the past 11 years.
At the June 14 council meeting, he said "the time to act is gone... we lost the most precious thing in this city - three of its citizens."
Schwener said he isn't worried about fewer people showing up to future meetings.
"You can't take what's happened away - doesn't matter one person, 50 people, 100 people, because they care," he said. "They care about their community."
Organizers of the vigil have two future events planned:
- July 8 vigil across from city hall at 2 p.m.
- July 15 march from LeClaire Park to City Hall at 4 p.m.