DIXFIELD – Selectmen on Monday agreed to allow Town Manager John Madigan to research the legality of boarding up a building deemed dangerous by the town’s code enforcement officer before approving the action.
Code Enforcement Officer Jay Bernard said a wooden structure at 9 Main St. should be considered unsafe. He said that although the building is vacant, appliances, including a refrigerator, remain inside. In addition, the building is open.
“It’s a public safety and health hazard,” he said Monday. “The landowner is not responding to certified mail.”
The letter outlines ways the building could be brought up to code.
“If we don’t act now, they will start sticking people back in. Under an emergency, we can board it up. The building is completely open,” he said.
Madigan said he wanted to review the state statute governing dangerous buildings.
“Usually boarding up is a prelude to other action. I want to make sure we can legally board it up,” he said.
Vice Chairman Eugene Skibitsky said he wanted to know whether the town is prepared to continue the process after the boarding up of a building, which generally is condemnation.
“We know there’s a hazard there,” he said.
The board is scheduled to act on the matter at a meeting set for next Monday. The owner is an unidentified limited-liability corporation.
In other matters, the board approved an auto graveyard/junkyard license for Roland Tyler provided a review of unregistered vehicles placed on his property on the Canton Point Road shows that none are located on the 100-year floodplain or the town’s wellhead protection area. Bernard said an inspection of the site showed that the vehicles were very close to both environmentally sensitive areas.
Also, the board:
• Approved spending $3,100 for the installation of guardrails along both sides of a 120-foot portion of Spring Street.
• Waived payment of quarterly sewer bills for Deputy Treasurer Charlotte Collins as compensation for the town taking an easement across her property, without getting an easement agreement, to hook up neighboring sewer systems. The agreement is for two years and is renewable.
• Appointed a Dixfield resident, Geoff Low, as the town’s new emergency management director. The new firefighter replaces former Dixfield Fire Chief Scott Blaisdell, who resigned from the position last month.
• Authorized Madigan to bring in a contractor to determine the cause of leaks into the basement of Ludden Memorial Library.
Selectmen also entered into a closed session to discuss the current arrangement of sharing a town manager with neighboring Mexico.
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