ATHOL — After more than a year on hiatus, the Vacant and Abandoned Building Committee reconvened last week to continue its review of unoccupied buildings in town. Attending were Chairman and Building Inspector Robert Legare, Deputy Fire Chief Jeffrey Parker, Vice Chair Deborah Vondal, Board of Health Agent, Rebecca Bialecki and Lee Chauvette from the Board of Selectmen, Bruce Winters and Harry Haldt. Ex-officio, non-voting members are Town Manager Shaun Suhoski and Town Counsel John Barrett.
The committee formed after a town bylaw, Chapter 13, was added in 2011.
According to Haldt, their goal for these properties is “to really try to get them out of being abandoned and vacant.” He said they work with owners and public and private agencies to try to redevelop or reuse buildings if possible. In extreme circumstances or if deemed dangerous they may be demolished.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of houses get scooped up,” Legare said, but some banks and individuals that own foreclosed properties don’t always want to put work into them, so they stay vacant. “We really have a housing shortage.”
The committee has worked with the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development’s Liabilities to Assets program which rehabilitates properties to be put on the market. Legare said, “we’re really pushing to take care of town-owned properties first,” and he feels that the Attorney General’s Abandoned Housing Initiative has probably been the most helpful.
Haldt said a building with a red “X” sign does not mean that is is condemned. It indicates to fire and emergency personnel that is is vacant with unsafe conditions and that they are not to go inside to search for occupants.
Every building, vacant or abandoned, has some owner of record, and the committee has a “hit list” of properties that need some action taken on them. To prioritize them, Haldt said “we look at a combination of things – is it dangerous, is it reparable, how blighted is it, is it bank owned or individually owned, should it be demolished and at what cost?” While grants are available, some demolition projects can cost more than $25,000 and are especially expensive if there is asbestos present.
The problem isn’t going to go away, Haldt said, and so more pressure has to be put on owners to do something and to work with the town to decide what should be done, “It’s kind of a never-ending process.” The town has been “a little bit more aggressive” in going after owners who owe property taxes, which can take a long time to recover. If someone leaves a building vacant, they are required by town ordinance to notify the town and secure the building.
“A house with an owner is a lot better than a house that is empty,” Haldt said. “The ideal situation is to have the property owner fix it and put it up for sale.”
The committee meets the third Tuesday every month at 5 p.m. in Liberty Hall at the Town Hall. The public is invited to attend.