NORWICH – Properties in need of attention or “eye sores” were again the hot topic at the Town of Norwich Board meeting Monday.
Town resident David Llewellyn told the board he feels the town needs to do something about the property near his home, on Lawton-Scheer road.
“Who would want to buy property on my road?” he asked. Llewellyn also said he feels there is a need for the town to get its own code enforcement officer. “The town is falling behind because we are depending on the county,” he said.
Llewellyn said insulation from the abandoned trailer has been blowing into a nearby creek since Easter, when two past tenants arrived and removed the trailer’s siding.
Of the two homeowners listed on the tax roll, one is deceased and the other lives in an assisted living facility in the Cortland area. According to an unidentified family member, the family has struggled to pay the bills and keep up with the care of the property since the homeowners fell ill.
Taxes totaling $2,279 are currently unpaid and liens from Chenango County Social Services, Chenango Memorial Hospital and the law offices of Burr and Reid remain.
Town officials say there is nothing they can do except wait until the property goes up for tax sale. Supervisor David Law said issues of unkempt properties have occupied his days, as the incidents seem to be increasing.
Councilman Charlie Brooks said there is a provision in the law saying that if the person responsible for the property can be found, an appearance ticket can be issued.
Following a lengthy discussion about the property on Lawton-Scheer rRoad, a letter was read to the board describing condition and findings made by the county officials about the Halfway House property on Rt. 12 South.
The property was assessed during the week of April 1 by the Chenango County Health Department, Environment Health Division and the Code Enforcement division.
According to the codes, and “order to remedy” was issued under property maintenance section of the New York state uniform fire and building code to clean up the trash. The letter stated if the trash was not picked up, an appearance ticket would be issued April 11. According code enforcement officer Bruce Bates, the ticket has not been issued because he believes the property has been cleaned up. “We will be conducting a follow-up today,” said Bates early Tuesday. The letter also said, “We are not able to condemn the building at this time as upon inspection, the structure meets NYS code.”
In a letter written by Public Health Sanitation Officer Sean Ryberg, he stated upon inspection of the property in question, a full written assessment of his findings was detailed. The assessment stated on April 1, Ryberg along with Glenn Kaiser were on site for further inspection.
The shared property consists of a house, an occupied trailer, an apartment building with four ground floor apartments – three that are condemned and one that is occupied – and an upstairs apartment that is occupied. “The one apartment has been renovated and is up to code,” said Bates referring to the one of four apartments currently not condemned. “The apartment is habitable.”
According to the findings, the unoccupied residences have miscellaneous building materials visible through the windows. The two-story house looks like it has been divided for multiple rentals and one tenant/family remains.
Other details listed included a child’s pool with standing water, a pull trailer with various refuse (including reusable fuel canisters), derelict refrigerators, a gas welding system connected to a propane tank and acetylene high pressure tank as well as various consumer plastic containers for chemical products. The letter states “These containers, pressurized tanks and refrigerators may all contain potentially hazardous materials due to the unknown nature of their contents.”
Bates said putting an “order to remedy” in place is all the codes department can do at this point. “We issue the order and the property gets clean.” Unfortunately, Bates said, many times the junk at the property in question will slowly build up again and in time another order may have to be issued.