Dangerous Buildings, Board of Review

BOARD OF REVIEW - DANGEROUS BUILDINGS MINUTES WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 27, 2013 5:30 p.m. Committee members present: Gary Schnip, Alderwoman Sofee Noblick, James Quarto, Richard Caron, Andrew Zeeman, Joe East, Building Official Jim Troeger Others present: Alderman H. Tucker Braddock, Jr., Leland Loose, Joanne Philbrick 1. Call to Order: Gary Schnip called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Determination of a Quorum: It was determined that a quorum is present. 3. Acceptance of Minutes. Upon motion by Rich Caron, seconded by James Quarto, the Board voted unanimously to approve the minutes as amended. 4. Communications: None. 5. Blight updates/concerns: a. 556 East Main Street – They put a fence up. They closed of the building opening. Jim Troeger gave them 60 days to demo the other building. b. 17 West Town Street – Nothing has happened so far. This will stay on the agenda and will be discussed at the May meeting. It is taking on water. c. 146 Wightman Avenue – Gary Schnip says that the roof is caved in. Jim Troeger spoke with Aimee Wickless (Corp Council). The foreclosure process takes up to 5 months. d. 105 Stonington Road (Garage) – Jim Troeger has spoken with the Patricia at CitiMortgage. They got new bids for demo and expect a decision by the first of the week. e. 27 Sherman Street – Jim Troeger states that the property sold. Joe East says the new owner is going to take it down and use for parking. Rehab of the 2 residentials is in progress. This is being moved to the watch list. f. 34-36 Mckinley – This is 1 bedroom and studio apartments. Housing Management team wants the committee to watch it. It may be under foreclosure. Watch List: g. 24 Harland Place – Jim Troeger states there has been no change. h. 11 Oak Street – Advertised and the bid date is Friday morning. There have been lots of calls on this. i. 77 Chestnut Street –Nothing will be known until spring. j. Mt. Pleasant Street – Jim Troeger spoke with Rodney Greene. In August posted demo. He has plans but if they don’t pan out he will have it down in early spring. k. 492 N. Main Street – Vacant and condemned. Just keeping an eye on it and Ed is working on it. Jim Troeger will check for an update. Board of Review – Dangerous Buildings 02/27/2013 Minutes Page 2 l. 33-35 Spaulding – Ed Martin told Jim Troeger that the soffits are repaired. m. Lot behind Sturtevant – Jim Troeger states that George Gardner (Housing Inspector) was working on that. It’s slightly overgrown. The building looks pretty bad. There are pallets of stuff on the side. It’s a maintenance issue and every summer it overgrows terribly. n. Prentice Street Shed – The owner promised an early spring demo. This will stay on the list until then. o. Asylum Street –The tarp is still on the roof. The citations are accumulating. p. Baltic Street – The tarp is still there. 6. Public Comments: Joanne Philbrick is tired of 17 West Town Street. It has been 8 years. Norwich is turning into a slum. How can anyone not see it. Nobody wants to come here. We need to clean up our act. I am saddened and disgusted by what I see. There are hundreds vacant and dozens falling down. The City buying them is like throwing grease on the fire. What is the plan? Gary Schnip apologetically replies that she is in the wrong venue. Joanne Philbrick replies that since the Council has no citizen comment any more this is the only venue. Jim Troeger asks what she suggests. Joanne replies that we as a community must take more pride in ourselves. Jim Troeger replies that Ed tries. Mostly he (Ed) winds up having to do most of the cleanup himself. He asks again what she suggests. Joanne replies a can of gas and a match. And that she wishes we would see more community effort. The potential of horrific tragedy with all the dangerous buildings is unacceptable. 7. Other: a. RFP for 105 Chestnut – The contract is being looked into at this time. b. RFP for 9 - 9 ½ Fountain – Waiting for the City c. Jim Quarto brings up Franklin Street. There are bricks coming down. Jim Troeger called. The owner is sending someone up. Public Works put up barricades. The fire department took down the top loose bricks. The owner is hoping to get interest with that building this year. He asked Jim Troeger if he had to do it all at once or if he could do portions. Jim Troeger told him yes. He also asked Jim Troeger about contamination if it’s under the slab. Jim Troeger told him to investigate it more himself. The sprinkler system is not connected but the State gave an order that if it is empty of combustibles it can be off. Board of Review – Dangerous Buildings 02/27/2013 Minutes Page 3 Rich Caron asks if the fire department went up did they give a structural ok. He is also afraid someone will get hurt. Jim Troeger states that the owner says the roof is ok and not leaking. The owner says it is very good inside. 8. Next meeting – the next regularly scheduled meeting is Wednesday, March 27, 2013. 9. Adjournment: Upon motion of Quarto seconded by Sofee Noblick, it was unanimously voted to adjourn at 6:08 p.m. Respectfully Submitted By: Christine Averna