ROYALSTON — Building Inspector Geoff Newton told Royalston’s Selectboard at its meeting on July 19 that he has tried to work with the owners of a rundown barn in the center of South Village but thus far the men have taken no action to address the problem. The building, at 25 Main St., which was once used as a motor vehicle repair business, is owned by Matthew Heuser and Ronald Sears, Jr. of East Greenwich, R.I. Newton told the board he sent a letter to the two men in January of this year and that they did show up in his office a short time later.
“I told them that I want to tear that building down immediately because it’s an imminent danger,” he explained. “They left my office saying they want to rebuild it. So, I gave them a short time — it was supposed to be — to get a structural engineer, have the building reviewed, and come with a plan on how they plan on redeveloping that building to make it acceptable. I have yet to hear from them.
“I’ve written another letter to them telling them if I don’t see or hear from them this week, that I’m going to go Chapter 139 of the general laws. So, I’ll need to talk to a lawyer because there might be some discrepancy in the changes of the law, or the circuit court cases; it may not be as simple as it looks in the general laws.”
Newton said Chapter 139, Section 3A gives the Selectboard, after a review, to declare the building in question to be an imminent danger and order it razed. The town would need to place a lien on the property to proceed in that manner.
Newton continued, “We’re going to need the money to cover the demolition. I don’t — my own thoughts, after looking at this building — I don’t find any real asbestos issues. But there could be some in the shingles that are on the roof, and because it’s now collapsed, that makes the whole demo project contaminated with asbestos.
“So now, that all has to be treated with the removal instead of just taken to some place for disposal.”
Newton told the board he could speak with the company that demolished 1 School St. — another building that occupied a prominent location in South Village — in 2018.
“That would be to remove the asbestos, you mean?” asked board Chair Deb D’Amico.
“Yes,” Newton replied. “He did the evaluation and then he came in with a crew and they ripped it all out and protected it and sent it where it has to go; in most cases, that was Ohio, where there’s a mine they drop all that stuff. So, that adds the cost of trucking and that’s why, as I said, it’s so up in the air. There’s a place (that trucks asbestos) up in Vermont, and they have one up in Maine; there’s really nothing local.”
D’Amico noted that 1 School St. had been taken by the town for nonpayment of taxes.
“Can we demolish a building if the taxes have remained paid?” she queried.
“Yes, you can,” Newton replied, “because it’s a dangerous building. But, either way, the cost (of demolition) will be borne by the town, and the lien goes on their property.
“Now,” he continued, “let’s look at the property. It’s a small sliver of land; you cannot rebuild on that thing. You can preserve, I suppose, what’s there. But I know that I’ve had so many people who wanted to establish a working garage there, but it’s abandoned. The use has gone; after two years, the previous use is gone.
“It’s a tough situation. We have to get around all those things and we’re going to end up with a piece of land that’s absolutely useless.”
Newton added that he’s unsure what effect the demolition of the building would have on the retaining wall that helps support School Street.
“I don’t know what can happen to the rest of that (wall) if they start. I’m going to say leave the concrete (foundation) the way it is and just take the bricks and the wood off of it and let the concrete sit there. It could be part of the stabilization of that wall.”
“I did the easement for School Street,” interjected Public Works Director Keith Newton. “It (the foundation) is indeed connected on the property we have for that easement. It’s secured — any foundation has already been secured. We own it.
“You’ve got a great opportunity because you get the riverfront exposure to enhance the program the revitalization group is trying to do.”
Newton told the Athol Daily News that he did receive a return receipt from a registered letter he sent to the owners asking that they contact him regarding the property. He added that he did receive an email from one of them on July 21 asking that they be given four weeks to present him with an action plan for the building.
“I told them that’s too long,” he concluded. “We need to get moving on this thing. So, we’ll see how quickly they get back to me and we’ll see where things go from there.”
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com