FARMINGTON – After a public hearing Tuesday night, selectmen approved an agreement with a property owner’s family representative to fix safety concerns at a vacant house on Wilton Road.
Representing the family at the hearing, attorney Anne Torregrossa of Lewiston, confirmed their willingness to address the structure’s safety hazards that include boarding up all ground floor windows, along with closing entries and covering a hole in the roof, with the ultimate intention of trying to sell the property.
A family member had already come up from Massachusetts to mow the lot over the weekend, which was something town officials had listed as needing to be accomplished.
The action to fix up the property came after town officials received complaints from residents that the property was a “prominent eyesore,” Steve Kaiser, the town’s code enforcement officer, said at an earlier meeting, adding, “… the dilapidated condition of the structure at this location makes it a ‘dangerous building'” according to statute.
Selectmen in September gave property owner Ted Gay a 60-day extension of time to come up with a plan to either fix the two-story house on Wilton Road across from the former Rite Aid building or tear it down.
It wasn’t until Thursday afternoon when town officials were contacted by Gay’s family, but the hearing remained scheduled for Tuesday. Gay’s daughter, Andra Hutchins, who lives in Massachusetts as does Gay, offered to take care of the property for her elderly father. She told Kaiser the family has plans for securing the house that includes boarding up the broken windows and openings to prevent unauthorized entry to discourage vandalism; mowing the lot to improve appearance and to put the property up for sale.
In the discussion Tuesday of whether to board up just the broken windows or all of them on the ground level, Police Chief Jack Peck noted that his department’s officers have caught people living in the vacant house and issued trespassing summonses to those individuals.
Selectmen were then in agreement that in order to deter potential future trespassers, all lower level windows should be boarded up to prevent entry.
Torregrossa suggested that a consent agreement be drawn up, with selectmen agreeing that all ground level windows, entries and a hole in the roof be boarded up; the property kept mowed, along with a timeline for listing the property for sale.
