It won’t be long before the burned-out remains of Fork n’ Pint are cleared away, according to Waterford Township officials and a demolition contractor.

Bob Hoffman, an Oakland County commissioner whose business portfolio includes the demolition company American Recycling, said he expects to sign a contract with the restaurant’s owners soon.

Doug Young, one of the restaurant’s owners, and manager Bill Schwab did not respond to The Oakland Press’ requests for comment.

Gene Butcher, Waterford’s deputy fire chief and former fire marshal, investigated the fire and said neither he nor the insurance company’s investigator could find a definitive cause, likely because of the intensity of the blaze. He said it was clear that the fire started outside, at the back of the building at 4000 Cass Elizabeth Road, but is not considered suspicious.

As far as timing for work on the site, Hoffman said, he can’t “say the exact start date of demolition, because we’re waiting on notifications from Consumers Energy and DTE that services are disconnected for safety reasons,” adding “it should be relatively soon.”

Hoffman said he grew up near the restaurant when it was called Mitch’s and owned by a local family. Mitch’s and Fork n’ Pint were community favorites, he said.

Township Supervisor Anthony Bartolotta said he was relieved to learn the building would come down sooner rather than later.

“Why it took so long, I have no idea,” he said, adding that he was glad to see a long-empty Don Pablo’s Mexican Kitchen at 513 N. Telegraph Road, demolished after a significant fire in August.

Bartolotta said Fork n’ Pint officials told him that an insurance dispute was behind the delay in removing the debris from the May 1 fire

The township’s building division superintendent, Rick Hutchinson, told The Oakland Press he’s been in regular contact with the restaurant’s owners, brothers Doug and Burge Young, and was aware of the insurance dispute. Hutchinson said he learned Tuesday afternoon that the Youngs plan to apply for a demolition permit this month.

Based on Tuesday’s conversation with the restaurant officials, Hutchinson said, “this isn’t something they are just telling me to make me go away.”

Burned Waterford Township restaurant mired in insurance fight