Dangerous Buildings, Board of Review

BOARD OF REVIEW - DANGEROUS BUILDINGS MINUTES WEDNESDAY MARCH 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. 1. Call to Order: Gary Schnip called the meeting to order at 5:34 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 Sofee Noblick, the Board voted unanimously to approve the February 27, 2013 minutes. 4. Communications: Letter from SRS Holdings. Jim Troeger is satisfied with the fence, they are keeping people out. He is going to check it to see if it’s secured from the back of the property (the little structure may be open too). 5. Blight updates/concerns: a. 556 East Main Street – Letter from SRS Holdings attached. b. 146 Wightman Avenue – There is a new owner, the financer took it back. They want to fix the house. They have already removed some junk cars. They are putting together plans. The Foreclosure proceedings have been stopped for now. The new owner wants to salvage what’s there. c. 105 Stonington Road (Garage) – He has spoken with the owners. They will call next week. d. 34-36 Mckinley – This is 1 bedroom and studio apartments. Housing Management team wants the committee to watch it. It may be under foreclosure. e. 205 Gifford Street – Shed – It hasn’t fallen yet. The owner is in the works to demolish it. Watch List: f. 24 Harland Place – Nothing new to report. They are doing what they have to do. g. 7-9 Oak Street – The power is off but he can’t do anything until NPU disconnects the electric. They are working on hauling all the stuff away. h. 77 Chestnut Street –Full of garbage and debris. City owned. Waiting on the Brownfields Money Jim Quarto asks what happens if we don’t get the money. Sofee Noblick replies that the City would simply fence it off. We don’t have the money. i. Mt. Pleasant Street – Still working on deal to take it down in Spring. Will keep an eye on it. j. 496 N. Main Street – Vacant a while. It is secure though. The taxes have been paid. Board of Review – Dangerous Buildings 03/27/2013 Minutes Page 2 k. Lot behind Sturtevant – This property is good. We are removing it from the agenda. l. Prentice Street Shed – Ed is looking into this. m. 147 Asylum Street –They have been issued a permit for a new roof. The fines are on hold for now pending progress. n. Baltic Street – The tarp is still there. o. 27 Sherman Street – Mel Weise applied for a permit to demo. p. 17 West Town Street – Nothing has happened so far. The committee is going to invite the owners to the April meeting if no progress happens soon. 6. Public Comments: 7. Other: a. RFP for 105 Chestnut – The contract is being looked into at this time. The owner has defaulted on the contract so the City is trying to take it back. It is a complicated process so we don’t have the answer yet. b. RFP for 9 - 9 ½ Fountain – There have been little hold-ups. May make one chunk with school street lots into one lot. Then it would be auctioned and not RFP’d. 105 Chestnut – Rich Caron believes that if we give it to Mel we need to ensure they won’t build on it. The RFP gives us that control. Also, they park there and block the whole side of the street. There should be no parking there at all. c. Jim brings up 45 & 47 Lake Street. The foundation is very dangerous. There was tarp on it but it’s not any more. Someone could fall through. d. Rich brings up 96 Washington Street. The porch is all open again. It was hit by a car in the winter. It needs to be closed up again. e. Gary brings up the old Commerce club on the corner of Broadway and Broad. f. Sofee would like the committee to watch the building at Capehart. Community Policing guys asked us to board up what we tore down. She believes we’re getting bids for a chain link fence. g. Jim Quarto brings up Franklin Street. He wants to know if there is anything new with that (where the bricks fell off). It seems that someone is working on it. 8. Next meeting – the next regularly scheduled meeting is Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Board of Review – Dangerous Buildings 03/27/2013 Minutes Page 3 9. Adjournment: Upon motion of Jim Quarto seconded by Sofee Noblick, it was unanimously voted to adjourn at 6:22 p.m. Respectfully Submitted By: Christine Averna