OXFORD — An eviction notice was taped to the front door of Oxford Aviation’s offices Tuesday afternoon, giving the company two days to vacate the space it leases from Oxford County.
The writ of possession, signed by a clerk at South Paris District Court on Tuesday, is the culmination of a six-month legal contest between the company and Oxford County commissioners.
Announcement of the company’s eviction comes 25 years to the day that it was founded at the Oxford County Regional Airport on Number Six Road.
The order gives Oxford Aviation, owned by James Horowitz of Casco, 48 hours to remove its possessions and leave the 40,000-square-foot facility.
The company’s phone has been disconnected and it no longer has an active website. Additional attempts to reach Horowitz were unsuccessful.
In an interview Tuesday afternoon, County Administrator Scott Cole was cautiously optimistic that the eviction would be completed, but he did not speculate on the future of the facility, which includes offices, repair bays, a pilot lounge, a classroom and hangars.
“We’ll see where we are in 48 hours,” Cole said. “We’re taking this one step at a time.”
Founded April 1, 1989, by Horowitz, the company painted, refurbished and repaired small aircraft. A bankruptcy filing last November forced it to stop taking on projects. The company said it had 60 employees.
Since its founding, the company has leased its facilities from Oxford County. In 2013, after three years of wrangling, the company and commissioners agreed to a new lease in which the company paid no rent but paid for building maintenance.
Last November, commissioners sued in South Paris District Court to evict the company, claiming it violated 11 terms of the lease.
In response to the suit, Horowitz transferred the company’s assets to himself for $1 and filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, putting the county’s eviction effort on ice. Horowitz’s bankruptcy was dismissed in federal court in Portland last month.
The case was eventually remanded back to South Paris District Court, where the two parties agreed to give Horowitz until April 1 to find a tenant to take over the lease or face eviction.
The terms of the agreement ran out Tuesday, allowing the county to legally seize the building.
Cole said a number of parties have come forward expressing interest in setting up a business in the facility, but so far there had been no firm offer.
Commissioners must review the condition of the buildings and inventory any remaining personal property before determining a course of action, Cole said.
“It’s premature to look into those things in earnest until we really know what we’re dealing with down there,” he said.
-
- Oxford County sheriff’s Deputy Sullivan Rizzo tapes a writ of possession to the front door of the Oxford Aviation offices in Oxford on Tuesday afternoon. The writ gives the company 48 hours to vacate the premises.
-
- The writ of possession, ordered for Oxford County, gives Oxford Aviation 48 hours to vacate the 40,000-square-foot facility it leases at the Oxford County Regional Airport in Oxford.
-
- An Oxford County Sheriff’s Office cruiser parks in front of the Oxford Aviation offices at the Oxford County Regional Airport in Oxford on Tuesday.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
