Bad Buildings "A No-gainer" For Massena

MASSENA - The owners of the condemned Slavin and Shulkin Furniture and Jewelry buildings were the target of several residents' frustrations this week for effectively saddling the taxpayers with an expensive mess by not paying taxes or upkeep on the crumbling structures for a decade.

The village Board of Trustees voted with reluctance Wednesday to assume ownership of the three Water Street buildings later this year once the county completes foreclosure proceedings for non-payment of taxes. Over $300,000 in village, town, county and school district taxes are owed on the parcels.

Several of those in attendance at the meeting, including Mayor Randy G. DeLosh, expressed anger and resentment at the difficult position the village and its taxpayers have been put in because the buildings' owners have not paid their taxes and allowed the structures to deteriorate to the point where at least one if not two are believed to pose a threat to public safety. A section of Water Street has been closed for two weeks because officials fear one of the buildings may collapse into the roadway.

Every official at the board table said they did not want to be saddled with the financial and legal liability that will come with owning the buildings, but all of them felt they had no choice. If left alone, the buildings will continue to deteriorate further, potentially collapsing into the street or into nearby buildings or the Grasse River, officials said.

"The problem with this whole ordeal is that you have a family that didn't pay their taxes," Mr. DeLosh said. "I have to pay for the Slavin family's mistakes - you do and I do. I'm a taxpayer too — I don't want to pay to clean up their mess."

Village Administrator Everett E. Basford said the municipality has already invested a significant amount of time and energy addressing the condemned buildings.

In recent weeks, highway crews have hauled in wooden and concrete barricades to seal off the roadway and lined the perimeter with bright orange snow fencing to try to keep people away from the structures. Code Enforcement Officer Gregory C. Fregoe and Department of Public Works Superintendent Hassan A. Fayad have inspected the building regularly, documenting the deterioration of the collapsed roof and measuring cracks and failures in the structure.

"We've had to board it up, lock it up, we've had the police down there," Mr. Basford said. "We've been working on addressing this property since 2004."

Officials believe that, even before they take ownership of the building, they may need to take measures to address possible threats to public safety created by a listing brick facade. Meetings next week will probe the need to potentially knock down at least some sections of the leaning wall in order to minimize the risks it poses.

All of this will cost money - money that will almost certainly come out of the pockets of taxpayers and not the owners of the buildings.

"No matter how you slice this pie, we're going to get stuck with the bill," business owner Kathleen Novosel said. "If we get a heavy soaking rain or a good snowstorm, the building is going to fall in."

"Realistically, we have to look at this as a no-gainer for everybody," Trustee Joseph A. Macaulay said.

A member of the Slavin family, Michael Slavin, who claims to be a spokesman for the Grand Cayman Islands company that reportedly owns the properties, raised concerns during the Wednesday meeting about the village's plans to demolish at least two of the structures.

He pointed out that, because of the size of the lot and its proximity to the river, once the buildings were knocked down, nothing could be constructed in their place. The village would have no choice but to turn that area into green space, perhaps locating a park there, which he noted would not add any revenue to the local tax base.

"With the ones that are falling down, we really have no option," Trustee Patricia K. Wilson said. "If it's salvageable, it should stay as a taxable property, that would be the ideal scenario. But the ones that are falling down, it's way too late to do anything to try to fix those."

Mr. Slavin said the corporation that owns the structures may be willing to donate the center building, the worst of the three, to the village so that it might be demolished.

"Could you ask the corporation to take that building down and remediate it for the village so we don't have to saddle these people with it," Ms. Wilson asked Mr. Slavin. "You're willing to give it to us for the taxpayers to pay the bill but you're not willing to have the corporation take care of it when it should be theirs."

Village Attorney Michelle H. Ladouceur confirmed that any expenses the village incurs in trying to protect the public from the Slavin properties can be charged back to the corporation, Slavin and Shulkin Furniture and Jewelry Inc., as long as the properties are owned by that corporation.

"I think we should absolutely pursue that," Ms. Wilson said. "Wherever they are and if we can find them, we should pursue that to get the money back that the taxpayers are going to put into this."