OXFORD – A resolution passed by the Chenango County Board of Supervisors last week suggests a new fate for a long vacant building in downtown Oxford that has served as nothing more than a blemish in the village for years.
Following recommendations made by the Chenango County Finance Committee, county officials authorized a resolution permitting the transfer of a county owned property in the Village of Oxford, located at 2-4 S. Broad St., just south of Oxford Town and Village Hall. According to the resolution, the property, which has undergone tax foreclosure, would be acquired for village purposes and will become available to the village via pending tax foreclosure proceedings.
“The village has been looking to improve that property for at least ten years,” explained Oxford Mayor Terry Stark, citing village officials’ attempts to purchase the building from its current owner in the past. However, talks to purchase the building have resurfaced over the last two years. “It has been an eyesore for the past eight or nine years and this is the first time we have actually been in a place to implement action.”
As part of the transfer agreement, the village must pay outstanding property taxes upon completion of foreclosure: $756.46 in due school taxes and $625.42 in village taxes, in addition to any clerk fees incurred in the filing process. Moreover, the village can not refer to the county for demolition expenses or a waiver of additional fees.
Also as part of the agreement, the village required a municipal purpose to purchase the property, said Stark.
“Having that property provides us access to the rear side of Village Hall,” he explained. Plans from here out are to demolish the building and use backside access of Village Hall to install an elevator. “We can’t do any of that unless we own or control the property and that is one of the reasons the village looked to the county to take control of it.”
The vacant lot would then be used as either a municipal parking lot or – better yet – sold to a private developer and returned to the tax rolls.
“Our main goal is to turn that into a viable property. We would love to be able to keep it in private hands,” said Stark, who added that costs to restore the structure far outweigh the benefits and the likelihood that a private developer invest in rehabilitation is doubtful.
Stark recalled a 2003 engineering report that recommended the building be razed, citing a need for repairs that would be too expensive to get it up to code. He said his hopes are to obtain New York State grant funding to have the structure demolished, which the village has previously been unable to apply for without ownership or control over the property.
According to the adopted resolution, the property deed will be transfered to the village within 30 days of the April 26 filing of the Chenango County Supreme Court order of tax foreclosure.