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Village hires contractor to fight blight at former Massena School of Business

Posted 10/17/18

Updated 1:52 p.m. Oct. 17 to correct bid amount By ANDY GARDNER North Country Now MASSENA -- The village has hired a contractor to do about $26,000 worth of work to get rid of blight conditions at …

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Village hires contractor to fight blight at former Massena School of Business

Posted

Updated 1:52 p.m. Oct. 17 to correct bid amount

By ANDY GARDNER
North Country Now

MASSENA -- The village has hired a contractor to do about $26,000 worth of work to get rid of blight conditions at the former Massena School of Business, 22-24 Main St.

At their Tuesday meeting, the board hired S & J Construction after they submitted a $26,250 estimate. The village will pay the contractor and then add the total to the property owners' outstanding tax bill and assessed against the property.

The board voted 3-1-1 to hire the company with the stipulation the work be done by Dec. 15. Trustees Matt Lebire and Tim Ahlfeld voted yes. Trustee Francis Carvel voted no and Trustee Albert Deshaies abstained. After the meeting, Deshaies said he didn't feel he had enough information on the project to vote either way.

"Too much money involved we don't have definite answers for. I've got to do more research before I vote. Then you take a look at the taxpayers ... what's going to happen to our tax rate. As someone who's sat here for a long time, this is an older community we've got to hold the line on taxes. We only had one bid," he said.

Fire Department Foreman Aaron Hardy, who also serves as a code officer, has previously said there are numerous instances of code violations around the building. Under the village's point-based system to determine blight, the building's violations had racked up 330 points, he said. A building is blighted at 100 points or more.

The owners on taxlookup.net are listed as Amy R. Todd and Benjamin J. Todd of Newark, Ohio.

"I think there's a lot of community support to do something" about the blighted building, Lebire said. He added that while examining the building, "we had someone come out of the restaurant across the road and say ... 'you have our support.'"