MINOT — Selectmen learned Monday that demolition of the abandoned building at 184 Old Woodman Hill Road has begun.

“An abutter called me today and said all the windows were taken out over the weekend,” Town Administrator Arlan Saunders said.

Two weeks ago Saunders had reported that the property owner wasn’t following through on an agreement to get rid of the building. At that time, although the property owner, Sharon Soucy of Alaska thought the demolition was under way, Code Enforcement Officer Ken Pratt was directed to take legal steps necessary for the town to take the building down.

Selectmen and neighbors, Saunders reported, were happy that it didn’t have to come to that.

“The neighbor spoke to the people taking it down and said that it should be gone, out of there, sometime next week,” Saunders said.

Saunders also told selectmen that the Zoning Board of Appeals had denied Chuck Starbird’s appeal last week of Pratt’s decision not to issue a building permit for his property off the end of York Road. He noted that the Appeals Board had agreed to waive the requirement that it issue a written decision within 35 days, allowing Starbird to reapply to revisit the appeal.

“According to our ordinance, he has 10 days to appeal,” Saunders added.

Saunders also pointed out that the fee the town charges for a hearing before the Appeals Board doesn’t begin to cover what it costs the town.

The fee for an appeal is $100, and, according to Saunders, the newspaper ad alone costs the town $160. Other town expenses include the costs to notify neighboring property owners, for the meeting itself, the recording of minutes, and for his time.

Selectmen asked Saunders to develop a recommendation for an equitable fee so the matter could be presented to voters at the March town meeting.

Selectmen also reviewed six bids received from firms that responded to the town’s call for 3,500 cubic yards of sand for winter roads. It awarded the work to KMC of Minot for $5 a cubic yard, delivered to the town garage.

Selectman Steve French reported that he had attended a recent meeting called by Androscoggin County commissioners to discuss the future of emergency dispatching in the county, now that the Public Utilities Commission appears adamant that there will be a single public safety answering point serving Androscoggin County.

French noted that prior efforts to come up with a plan involving a single Public Service Answering Point had run into problems when it came to allocating costs. He said he was encouraged, that it appeared all parties were trying to be “fair and equitable.”

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