Claremont
The City Council voted on Wednesday to take action against Twin State Property Maintenance, the owner of 139 Main St., a vacant three-story brick building across from Leo’s Market in an area with frequent foot traffic.
Planning and Development Director Nancy Merrill told the council the building’s condition presents a dangerous situation and urged the council to give the city the power to remedy the problem.
“We are approaching this as a life-safety issue,” Merrill said. “It is pretty bleak.”
The city has placed cement barriers on the sidewalk in front of the building to prevent pedestrians from walking beneath the facades and getting hit by falling bricks. Merrill said bricks have fallen in the back of the building and hit some cars.
“Persons walking around the structure are currently subject to falling debris originating from this structure,” a report from Heritage Engineering of Perkinsville reads. “The current risk of falling debris will increase over time. The current risk of larger portions of the structure collapsing will increase over time.
“In its current condition the structure is not safe for workers or members of the public to enter.”
The council’s authority to demand the owner make repairs is spelled out in the state law RSA 155-B, which states, in part: “The governing body of any city or town may order the owner of any hazardous building within the municipality to correct the hazardous condition of such building or to raze or remove the same.”
If the owner does not comply, the city can go to district court to obtain the authority to take corrective action, including demolition, and also place a lien on the property or others owned by Twin State Maintenance to recoup its costs, the law says.
The building, which shares a wall with 147 Main St., was purchased in 2017 for $5,000 and currently is assessed at $52,900. It was built in 1880 and has roughly 2,300 square feet of living space, according to the city’s assessing records.
Twin State Property Maintenance, with an address in Charlestown, owns 14 properties in the city, all purchased within the last several years, the assessing records show. Merrill told the council that Frank Sargent is the owner of Twin State and the city has had some communication with him through the Building Inspector’s Office.
Sargent owes back taxes of around $100,000 on his properties, according to City Manager Ryan McNutt.
“He is one of our biggest (tax) scofflaws,” McNutt told the council, adding that there is a less than favorable chance the city will see any money.
The engineer’s report said there are missing asphalt shingles that has resulted in precipitation entering the building.
The report also said the roof rafters have deteriorated where they connect into the brick and wooden wall along the front of the building.
“As the ends of the roof rafters continue to deteriorate they will reach a point where they slip off their wall supports. This collapse will likely lead to a larger scale failure of the roof system, the front brick wall and the floor systems,” the report reads. “The wind forces acting on the brick face of the building will continue to push and pull on the rafters, which are no longer connected to the ceiling framing. This will also likely lead to a larger scale failure.”
McNutt told the council the situation is critical and needs immediate attention.
“If it goes into winter, the whole thing could blow into Main Street,” he said.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com
