OTISFIELD — Selectmen agreed Wednesday night to take no immediate action on the former Grange hall on Gore Road as long as the owner assures it will be razed in the spring and the code enforcement officer can have access to ensure it doesn’t shift this winter.
Records indicate the Frederick Robie Grange disbanded in the 1990s and the building was sold to a private party. In recent years, it has been vacated and has become an eyesore.
The entire west side of the 65-plus-year-old concrete block building is cracked about 7 feet above the granite foundation. The crack runs up to the roofline through the eight-inch cinder blocks on either end. The side appears to protrude out and at least one block is jutting out at an angle.
On Nov. 4, board members and Code Enforcement Officer Richard St. John met with building owner Derek Cash of Poland to discuss what steps will be taken to ensure the building does not pose a hazard to the neighborhood and passing motorists and pedestrians.
St. John said the board has four options:
* Give the owner time to stabilize the building;
* Declare it a dangerous building and go directly to Superior Court to take the building by eminent domain;
* Hold a public hearing to determine the next course of action; or
* Negotiate with the owner to tear the building down if he has no funds to do so.
St. John said the roof is stable but until he is able to measure the wall, he can not say what type of threat the building poses.
Cash said he does not believe the building is in danger of falling. The crack is from the loss of expandable foam that was used between the cement blocks, he said.
“It looks a lot worse than it is,” Cash said.
The building is not insured.
Cash said he hopes to sell the building in the next several weeks to Jim Brett of Otisfield.
The new owner said he plans to raze the building in the spring when he returns from Florida. Until that time, St. John will take periodic measurements to compare against a baseline measurement of the wall he hopes to get this weekend.
St. John and the board said they remain cautious, but are willing to give the owner a chance to remove the building.
In other business at Wednesday’s meeting, the board agreed to hire Shannon Moxcey as General Assistance administrator for $1,600 a year. The duties have been taken care of by the town administrative assistant. Because of the amount of time the job entails, the board felt it would be more efficient to hire Moxcey, who serves other towns, including Norway and West Paris.
The board awarded a firetruck to Steve Day of Otisfield for a bid of $3,111. He was the top bidder of four.
Administrative Assistant Anne Pastore said the town received $19,500 in signing fees from the Heniger Park camp owners. The fee was part of the board’s agreement with camp owners to extend the 99-year lease offer beyond its original deadline earlier this year.
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