BATH

Bath city councilors on Wednesday night unanimously agreed to demolish a structure at 1037 Middle St., a decision that satisfies more than 10 years of complaints with the property.

“This is a property that we’ve had (many) complaints about over the years and it’s been frustrating for some of the neighbors,” said City Manager Bill Giroux.

The property has been abandoned by its prior owners, and the city acquired the title to the land in 2007 through matured tax liens, according to a memorandum.

While the home was deemed unfit to inhabit in 2002, the fire department and Code Enforcement Officer Scott Davis have also agreed that the home is structurally beyond repair.

The property has also been subject to a number of code violations almost yearly since 1989, including the accumulation of trash, debris, furniture and appliances outside the property.

A small addition containing a bathroom is also attached to the side of the house, though it is currently pulling away from the main building, said Davis.

“Other than that, I haven’t condemned the building because it’s structurally unsound,” he said. “It’s not in danger of collapsing if we had heavy snow or anything like that. It’s unfit to live in based on the condition of the inside of the building and the water has been turned off for quite some time.”

Davis doubted that there was any historical significance to the building, though this would need to be reviewed before demolition, according to Giroux.

“It takes a lot … before a building is going to cave in, but I know there’s several neighbors here tonight who are anxious to see this building come down,” he said.

Councilor James Omo was also in favor of tearing down the building on Wednesday.

“I don’t know that I can agree with Bill and Scott. I think the thing’s about to fall down. There are some bad, bad sections of the roof and … I’d be surprised if this thing had any historic relevance to anything — who knows, it could,” he said. “It’s a very sad story with the family … and the city’s tried to help and the neighbors have tried to help and whatnot in the past, and I think they have finally given up on it and moved on, and it’s probably time for us to take all this and make it go away.”

He said the issue has come up before the council in years past.

Councilman Bernard Wyman agreed with Omo.

“That’s a very nice neighborhood up there and all it’s doing is dragging down the valuable properties there,” he said.

Terry Driscoll of 43 York St. has been at the forefront of the issue, and has been filing complaints about the building since 2003.

“In 2003, we tried to work with the city … and we were told at every term that there was nothing we could do … and so what we did for a time was use the garbage and refuse ordinance to get the yard cleaned up to keep it presentable,” she said.

Photos taken in August and this past January of the exterior of the home reveal peeling siding, while trash and other appliances litter the backyard. A car is also parked on the landscape, which has been present since 2002, said Driscoll.

“It isn’t the way in our neighborhood that we want people to have to live,” she said. “There was no help for the people, living in the home or the people surrounding the home. So this has come to pass as no surprise, but it will be a great relief to neighbors and everyone on the street who have persevered for so long with what I’ve been told is the worst appearing home in Bath.”

The city will be sending the prior owners a notice to remove property from the premises by May 20.

As far as the future of the property goes, Giroux said that the area could potentially be used for water control, and maybe even provide relief in flooding on Willow Street, though the research could take some time.

“We’re a long ways from engineering studies that would show that we could use it for anything,” he said.

dkim@timesrecord.com

Bath land

• BATH ACQUIRED the title to the Middle Street land in 2007 through matured tax liens. While the home was deemed unfit to inhabit in 2002, the fire department and Code Enforcement Officer Scott Davis have also agreed that the home is structurally beyond repair.