JAY – Selectmen authorized the building inspector to work with people who have potentially dangerous situations pertaining to buildings.

Building inspector James Butler updated the board on various complaints Dec. 22 and the progress that has been made on buildings on Route 140, Church Street and Main Street.

Three of the structures on two of those roads are now vacant, Butler said.

The one on Church Street is now in the hands of a realty firm and has been winterized. Butler said work still needs to be done before it could be occupied. Some walls inside the apartments that should exist – and may have once existed – don’t exist any longer, he said.

A complaint that a garage/storage building on Main Street is unsafe has been followed up, Butler said.

The building is “leaning pretty heavily,” Butler said.

He wrote a letter to the owner, and the owner has replied that he is willing to work on it but doesn’t have the resources to do much.

He asked if the Fire Rescue Department could burn it, Butler told selectmen.

In order for that to happen, he would need to check with Chief Scott Shink about safety and to see if any training could be done on the building before it is burned, Butler said.

The department cannot burn it down without doing training on it first, Butler said.

Selectmen authorized Butler to continue to work with the owner to see what could be done.

Selectman Steve Barker also brought up that he saw a wooden support system holding up a wood-stove pipe that he noticed on a house in North Jay.

Butler said he had heard about the pipe having a wooden platform under it to support it and wood supporting it up higher near the roof.

There has been no complaint on it, he said.

Butler said he feels like he isn’t doing his job when he sees something dangerous like that but cannot act unless there is a written complaint.

He asked whether there had to be a complaint or if he could file his own complaint or could he just stop by and talk to the person to prevent the possibility of the house catching fire.

Town Manager Ruth Marden said she saw no reason why he can’t stop and talk to people informally before a complaint is filed or any action is taken.

“You’re opening up a whole can of worms” that anyone can ride around town and come in and make complaints, resident Tim DeMillo said.

Select board Chairman Steve McCourt said the board has struggled with this and they’ve taken it to the minimum but they also don’t want to see anybody hurt.

The law requires a town of 2,000 or more people to have a building inspector.