RUMFORD — The Board of Selectmen were updated Thursday by town attorney Jennifer Kreckel on the process of dealing with properties with code violations that are not tax-acquired.
In a 45-minute discussion, Kreckel said, “You can’t just say, ‘We’ve got a dangerous building and expect the court to say, ‘Sure, tear it down.’ We have to have expert testimony if it’s contested. So that would require us to have a study of that building.”
She said it would have to qualify under Title 17, the dangerous building statute, which “requires establishing that it is dangerous to the health and safety of our community.”
“I don’t think there’s any question that the Linnell Motel is likely to qualify for that,” said Kreckel said. “We are working on the Linnell Motel. It’s just been problematic trying to locate the people that we have to locate.”
Selectman Frank DiConzo said, “I would like to see you take the swiftest option to take care of it.”
Kreckel responded, “I’m all for it, too, because I think everything we do to change this improves the situation in our town.”
Selectman Mark Belanger asked Kreckel for a list of the properties she’s working on. “There’s four or five really bad properties that I’d like to know the status of.”
Kreckel noted, “For us to be able to overcome their property rights, we have to establish that it’s in the best interest of the citizens or its safety, not because it’s not beautiful, but because it’s for the safety of our town, that we can then get an order of demolition. And it doesn’t have to be total demolition of a building.”
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