PARIS — The Paris Board of Selectmen voted Monday night to delay action on condemning a dangerous building on 64 Durgin Road until the matter can be discussed in  an upcoming executive session. 

Perley Emery has owned the property since 1974, and added a trailer to it in 1988.

Recently, his son, Richard Emery, who is incarcerated currently at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset, has lived at the trailer. 

Selectmen Peter Kilgore made the motion to table the discussion, and it was seconded by Chairman Rusty Brackett. Both cited the personal nature of the discussion as a reason to bring it to executive session.

Paris Code Enforcement Officer Kingston Brown first aired concerns about the property Oct. 28, Brown and Paris Fire Chief Mark Blaquiere said they had witnessed numerous violations and unsafe living conditions.

Among the alleged violations: Many dead animals on the property, propane tanks located inside the trailer, food and trash piled up and substances dumped onto the ground that could affect neighbors’ wells. 

Blaquiere said over a two-year span, he had visited the property more than 20 times for calls bout waste being burned. During these calls, Blaquiere said, Richard Emery “would burn things that ought not to be burned.” And despite repeated warnings, Richard Emery did not stop burning hazardous items, according to town officials.

Perley Emery was not present during these warnings and violations, and Blaquire said Richard Emery repeatedly told officials he was the owner of the trailer. 

At one point, Brown said, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services removed a child from the residence and placed the child with relatives. the child reportedly lived with “constant rashes.” There are not any children living on the property currently. 

Brown said after the Oct. 28 meeting, Perley Emery was presented with a list of seven hazards to be addressed, and that Perley Emery’s lawyer Jacqueline Gomes of Westbrook, said most everything on the list had been corrected. Still left to be done: The family must hire an outside company to do a mold test.

Brown, however, said most of the work had not been performed correctly.

“We’re still left with a mess,” Brown said. 

Though the board unanimously agreed to table the discussion until after an executive session, Brown disagreed with that decision. 

“Yes, this is a personal thing, and, yes, I agree with the sentiment, but in reality, the reason we’re here today is because this personal thing became everybody else’s problem,” Brown said. “His neighbors have been dealing with this. They could return probably tonight and air the exact same grievances.”

Emery said the trailer is his primary residence, but he also intends to use it for agricultural purposes — specifically, egg harvesting.

Maine law stipulates executive sessions may be called for a specific set of circumstances, such as sensitive information that could damage reputations or personnel issues.

Brackett cited “investigation or hearing of charges or complaints against a person” as reasons for the upcoming executive session regarding Emery’s property.

Brown said the process should be public and could set a precedent for how upcoming dangerous buildings are handled by the town.

“This might also set a precedent for how we deal with these in the future as well,” brown said. “I think the public should be aware of what we decide.”

Brown said he would present the town with a list of work that still needs to be completed on the trailer before it could be deemed inhabitable.

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