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Home My WebLink About1978-07-31 GROTON TOWN BOARD PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSIDERING LOCAL LAW # 1 PROVIDING FOR THE REPAIR OR REMOVAL OF UNSAFE BUILDINGS AND COLLAPSED STRUCTURES - Held at the Town Hall - Groton , N . Y . July 31 , 1978 an 8 : 00 P .M . PRESENT : R . Walpole - Deputy Supervisor M . E . Dempsey - Cortland Standard G . VanBenschoten L . Sovocool D . Hall B . Bucko J . Bell we Recording Clerk Mr . Walpole called the hearing to order at 8 PM and read aloud the Legal Notice for the public hearing which was published in the Groton Journal & Courier July 19 , 1978 we a copy of which is attached to these minutes and made a part hereof . R . Walpole : This is the legal notice which was published in the Journal and Courier on July 19th , 1978 and also posted in three places . R . Walpole : The purpose of the hearing is to hear any comments for or against so will open the hearing to the floor for discussion . D . Hall : You have good points but you ' re taking away the privacy of man ' s domain and liberty and pursuit of happiness . To allow such a thing as this for the Town of Groton or Village Board or any other Board throughout the Town , State or whatever - - you ' re trying to - - I put it harshly starting a communist type of thing here . Man isn ' t even going to be able to have anything whether it ' s to his liking or to the public ' s liking . B . Bucko : We ' re talking about unsafe places We We what if a kid goes in there ? D . Hall : He would have no business to go on my property - We he has no right there We - I don ' t think people are liable for anybody that gets in your property . Be Bucko : If there ' s an attraction to the kid there and he goes on there and say the kid ' s killed . Say a 6 -year old kid wanders on to your property and gets killed because the Town officials didn ' t bother to tell you to clean up . D . Hall : It isn ' t up to them to tell me to clean up - We it ' s not up to anybody to tell me to clean up . If I want a building there with an unsafe roof on it - - if my place doesn ' t look like a million dollars for this assessment thing , which is what a lot of it is done for I think . No law should be enforced to make this man - - Be Bucko : You go around Town here and see buildings noone is living in ready to fall down and they won ' t take them down . That ' s SO 1 AS Be Bucko : an unsafe building . What if there ' s a fire in there and a fireman goes in and gets killed because the building is unsafe ? Is that communism ? I don ' t believe you mean what you ' re saying . D . Halle I do , in one sense , On — in so many ways - - zoning aid other things have taken away man ' s right to exist the way it was meant to be . Somebody shouldn ' t have to come and tell me I have to put a roof on my shed because it ' s beginning to leak through or looks unsafe . L . Sovocool : That isn ' t the ordinance . B . Bucko : That has nothing to do with it , - - it ' s only unsafe and collapsable buildings . D . Halle I agree with that . R . Walpole : It ' s buildings in the Township - - has nothing to do with the Village - - we have people from out of State that own property in the Township - - hundreds of acres with buildings on them in an inferior state and some of them have collapsed and we have contacted the owners through the fire service and Town of Groton has written them indicating the condition of the building and that the floor is gone and people are in and out of there . B . Bucko : This is all this is for . D . Halle But you ' re talking about - - hippies , gyppies , drugs - - just want a place to get under cover . R . Walpole ; The problem is we have complaints from the Pleasant Valley area where ' s there ' s an abandoned house and an open well . We have no right to go in there but have had numerous com- plaints from the residents in the area as to what can be done to protect our children . This is one of the reasons for this . D . Hall : First you contact them and tell them it should be taken care of but not making it a law to everybody . B . Bucko : It has to be a law but it applies to those people who don ' t take care of their property . If your roof leaks that isn ' t what it ' s for - - only those that are abandoned and unsafe . D . Hall : I still say that kids or anybody else - - I don ' t know - - you have good points but they aren ' t supposed to be near those places , - -you ' re trying to clean up the Town . R . Walpole : No - - just places that people have been asking what can be done and the only way we can do it is to have a law . Then we can go to these people , for example in New Jersey , saying this building has got to have something done to it an On GO 2 - . I R . Walpole : removed or boarded up so entry cannot be made into the building . We have letters dating back two to four years ago . D . Halle These laws are alright but when it comes to you - - if you ' re going to walk around and say that ' s me - - I don ' t want you tromping on me ? R . Walpole : There ' s no way a building inspector is going out to survey every building in the Township . D . Hall : The way I read it , you could come up and tell me to get this taken care of if I had a shed or roof that wasn ' t safe . B . Bucko : If your shed is attached to your house nobody will bother you but if you have a barn and it ' s in a delapidated condition and kids aren ' t supposed to be there but what if they are and they get hurt ? R . Walpole : For example in certain parts of the Township we have abandoned houses and if there was a fire and it was unsafe for entry it gives us something for the building inspector to go in and rule to close sections of the building until they are made right before allowing people to move back in there . B . Bucko : If we were in the Village Spring Street would be cleaned up but fast ! R . Walpole * Any other questions ? G . VanBenschoten : I have one , Bob , - -do you have to have a complaint before any action will be taken on an unsafe building ? B . Bucko : No , - - the enforcement officer can do it . He can see a condition and he sends a notice and the guy comes in and discusses it and if he disagrees there ' s a panel to look into it and see what can be done and worked out and after that if the panel says you have to fix it and he disagrees then you can get - a Court Order . You don ' t have to wait for a complaint . R . Walpole : I know that the building inspector in one place in Pleasant Valley - - Dana sent out three notices - - people have called Bob Brown about it and this guy refuses to even answer the letters . The people who live across the road called and we burned it up for them and that made it a lot better . D . Halle bet me ask you another question - - what is the law for the fireman on open fire when you burn down these old buildings ? R . Walpole ; As long as you have a permit . D . Halle You can go ahead , as firemen , and pollute the air and so on ? - 3 - R . Walpole : The Health Department issues them , - - have issued one for the Town of Groton next Sunday . D . Hall : So they do get an exemption on this type of thing An — if somebody else did something like this might get fined . R . Walpole : In agricultural areas burning is allowed to clean up brush . They allow them in any village or State of New York unless no burning is allowed without a permit but in the agricul - tural area it ' s allowed without a permit or anything . L . Sovocool : Hay or brush or things like that . D . Hall : It ' s a case if you ' re going to have a thing it should be like you ' re trying to do here . If you ' re going to stop pollution you shouldn ' t say farmers should be permitted to . R . Walpole : The purpose is so they have more tillable acres - - any further questions ? If not will ask for a motion for adjournment . G . VanBenschoten moved the hearing be adjourned which was seconded by L . Sovocool and unanimously carried . The hearing adjourned at 8 : 15 P . M . Respectfully submitted , Jo ephine Bell - 4 - I