GRANBY, Colo. -- Rep. Mark Udall was in Granby Monday morning touring the destruction caused by last week's bulldozer rampage in the small mountain town.

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Local Resident Describes Granby Damage Family Targeted By Bulldozer Picks Up The Pieces Slideshow:See Extensive Damage From Rampage

The price tag to repair that damage is expected to exceed $4 million but the town may receive some state and federal help, 7NEWS reported. Granby officials are holding a 7 p.m. planning commission meeting to talk about rebuilding and its costs.

"I'm intending to pull together federal agencies and meeting with the townspeople -- probably at the end of the week -- once we know more about the insurance information, where we might be able to add some help," Udall said.

On Friday afternoon, Marvin Heemeyer, 52, used a custom-built armored bulldozer to destroy eight buildings and damage five others -- buildings all owned or somehow related to people who he resented. The rampage ended about two hours later when the bulldozer got stuck inside Gamble's General Hardware Store, a large warehouse where residents buy everything from appliances to hardware.

The owner of the hardware store estimates it will cost about $500,000 to rebuild.

Damage to the town hall and library is expected to exceed $1 million and that doesn't include the cost of retrieving documents and records inside. Mayor Ted Wang said there could be an asbestos problem as well.

The new Liberty Bank building that cost $1.3 million to build suffered heavy damage as did the office of Ski-Hi Newspaper (pictured, right) and Mountain Parks Cement Plant -- the object of his wrath and numerous lawsuits and the first building Heemeyer hit.

The home and garage of former Mayor L.R. "Dick" Thompson was destroyed (pictured, below). Heemeyer also bulldozed the buildings the Thompsons owned and rented to Xcel Energy. Thelma Thompson, the mayor's 82-year-old widow, said Heemeyer also hit Thompson and Sons Excavating, the business behind her house.

"Dick" Thompson served for more than 20 years on the town council and was mayor when a zoning decision that Heemeyer didn't like was passed. Even though died three years ago, Heemeyer's grudge apparently didn't.

Heemeyer shot himself before officers could reach him. They had to use a blowtorch to cut a hole in the large steel plates encasing the bulldozer. The metal plates had a 12-inch layer of concrete between them.

Inside the fortified Caterpiller D-9, police found four weapons and three closed-circuit television sets that he used to see out of the bulldozer. There were no windows in the bulletproof cab, just small holes for the guns to point outside -- a .50-caliber rifle pointed in the front and two military style assault rifles protruding on each side. Heemeyer also had a handgun and gas mask.

As evidence of Heemeyer's foresight and planning, he had also hooked up air tanks to blow dust away from the lenses of the small cameras he had mounted outside of the bulldozer. The dozer was equipped with an air conditioner, and its hydraulics were protected by armor.

Police say his motive for the rampage was vengeance. Heemeyer was angry with the town council over a four-year-old zoning dispute that allowed a cement plant to be built next to his muffler shop. Heemeyer sold his business several months after the plant was built and he blamed that zoning decision as the reason why he was forced out of business, townspeople said.

He was also upset over a $2,500 fine for not having a septic tank and other city code violations involving his muffler shop.

Fortunately, no one else was hurt or killed in the rampage even though authorities exchanged hundreds of rounds of ammunition with Heemeyer. Officers' bullets bounced off the impenetrable homemade tank as it ambled through downtown Granby.

At one point, an officer perched on top of the dozer, fired shot after shot into the top, and dropped an explosive down the exhaust pipe. It did nothing to deter Heemeyer.

Heemeyer even fired his .50-caliber weapon at several propane tanks and electrical transformers but they did not explode. The dozer also pushed over a wall where two state troopers were hiding, but the troopers escaped unhurt.

Heemeyer Skilled At Welding

Friends say Heemeyer loved to weld, and this 13-foot tall metal monstrosity surely was his masterpiece, probably constructed over a several-month period.

"That's the kind of guy he was," said his friend Pete Mitchell. "He was a vindictive son of a ... (expletive deleted)."

Until then, nothing had seemed out of the ordinary at his corrugated-metal building, where he kept cars, snowmobiles, boats, and now it seems a bulldozer. Mitchell said Heeymeyer hadn't been seen much of late.

His souped-up snowmobiles were the talk of the town for the amount of money he invested in the engines. He had the fastest snowmobile and his truck had a 400-horsepower engine. Known as "Marv the Muffler Man" for his commericals on local TV station, his skills as a welder were legendary.

"He could change a muffler by himself in 20 minutes," Mitchell said. "No wasted motion. He knew what he was doing."

His modified 75-ton earthmover remembled a large, Dumpster but up close police could see the details of Heemeyer's handiwork, hydraulic lines and a radiator.

"How he built this was amazing," said Grand County Commissioner James Newberry. "This was a very intelligent man. Once you saw the way his workshop was set up it's possible (he did it on his own.)"

Heemeyer constructed a homemade crane or boom out of thick piping that would have allowed him to hold his armor in place while he welded it together.

Heemeyer retrofitted the bulldozer inside a shed that he once owned but then sold to a local trash company. He leased the space for storage and that lease was up June 1, causing some observers to reason that may be why Heemeyer launched his attack last week. His family says his father's death on March 31 could have also have been the breaking point.

Those who know him have varying opinions of Heemeyer. Some say he was a nice guy who would do anything for his friends. Others call him an immature nut. However, they do agree about one thing -- he can keep a grudge and was passionate about what he believed in.

Heemeyer was born and raised on a dairy farm in South Dakota, moved to Colorado 30 years ago when he was stationed at Lowry Air Force Base and settled in Granby about 15 years ago.

When the rampage ended Friday afternoon, officers used three rounds of explosives to get into the dozer -- but failed. Police then discovered hinges that allowed them to pull out an air conditioning unit and get into the box.

Once inside, crews had to use a crane to remove Heemeyer's body.

Business leaders fear that the one-man demolition derby could hurt the local economy, especially for a town dependent on tourism, but some city officials believe that Heemeyer's wild ride might draw visitors interested in a strange attraction.

Additional Resource:

To help with the rebuilding effort, contributions can be made to the Granby Fund, in care of Liberty Savings Bank, P.O. Box 587, Granby, CO 80446.