Saturday, May 16, 2015

Springfield gives Ostrowski family more time to avoid demolition

The Springfield Select Board has given another person an extension on a demolition order for a dilapidated building.

25 comments :

  1. So all you have to be is a lawyer and threatened the town with legal action and everybody backs down. I can see where this is going! Another 50 years and the building will still be there! Why even waste your time. Talking big (100%), taking action (0%). This board makes me sick!

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  2. Tear it down. It cannot be fixed. It is in a dumb location and looks terrible fixed or not. Politics always gets in the way. Lawyers rule over the select board. Quit being so soft, and start playing hard ball.

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  3. RE: Ostrowski died at age 86 in 2012, and according to her niece and nephew, she put little effort into maintaining either her home or the two other buildings in the past decades.

    Not surprising. Springfield's outrageous property taxes force people to forgo regular home maintenance so they can render unto Caesar first. The town bleeds its citizens dry...

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    Replies
    1. You make an excellent point!

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    2. Died in 2012. She was therefore dead before the demolition order in 2013. So the lack of action was, not the elderly woman, but rather her estate. Does that mean the lack of action was actually the two family members who were lawyers standing up at the meeting? What is going on here other than the niece and nephew trying to dump the property on a neighbor?

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  4. Lawyers are the scourge of this nation. Engineers and scientists led the town to greatness. Now the lawyers will relegate it to a state of chronic decline. Rest assured the family is embellishing their alleged efforts to disposition the property.

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  5. This speaks to Ankuda's competence at reviewing ordinances and defending our community against frivolous litigation. I have lived and worked all over North America and nowhere else have I ever witnessed a community so easily hamstrung by the likes of Bishop and Ostrowski. God forbid I needed effective counsel, our town attorney's firm would be my last choice!

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  6. Surely there must be some taxpayer funds that can be used to save these historic and quaint buildings. I am sure that the Springfield Regional Development Corporation can come up with other people's money to restore these buildings. Perhaps they can use the buildings as a storage area for all that free beer that is coming tomorrow?

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  7. George T. McNaughton5/16/15, 7:38 PM

    Although I missed a portion of the proceedings because of a conflict in schedules and could not participate in the deliberative session or the vote, I don't think the article was overly fair to the Selectboard. Given the decision, it was clear that the legal threats were not the guiding factor. They affirmed the decision of the 2013 board. What was guiding the time period was the fact that the first funds from the special appropriation do not actually hit the Town coffers until in August. There has been some tension on the board to what extent the board should continue to delay because of the timing of funds receipt. However, there is still an element on the board willing to grant long delays because of promises to repair.

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    1. Excellent! Let's hope this rift on the board continues to fester. Mr. McNaughton, I hope your Ivory Tower is well defended.

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    2. Walter Clark referred to McNaughton as a zealot on this issue of cleaning up these buildings. Are zealots Ivory Tower inhabitants? It appears that he is engaged in a battle with the Selectboard members who were on the Selectboard back in 2013 to get them to enforce their decisions. Did Walter Martone actually support the decision to delay? He voted with the majority? Its not clear which way McNaughton would have voted had he voted.

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    3. William Somelinson5/18/15, 11:43 AM

      Yes, McNaughton, climb down off your Ivory Tower and let these poor lawyers sell the property. Have you no pity in your idealism, the reality is that we residents enjoy the neighborliness of allowing buildings crumble and rot.

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    4. Ivory Tower doesn't seem to fit McNaughton, if you are going to throw around insults, might want to pick one that fits.

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  8. These people had a couple years to do something and did nothing, what is a few months going to do? The town needs to crack down on all these owners who keep "promising" to do something and do nothing! Stop being so lenient. Yes, these are old buildings full of history....but as I see them right now, they are just another eye soar giving all the squatters a place to hang out.

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  9. BLAME OTHERS!
    The biggest change I've seen in my 70 years in the valley is that the community of old was made up of helpers and doers, not blamers and complainers. 50 years ago the community would have shut their mouths and helped this family instead of just blaming others. Times have changed.
    I don’t know any of the selectboard personally, but they seem to be part of the remaining few from the past that understand that great communities need people to step up; thank you selectboard. It sure would be nice to have more like you in town.
    Maybe we should spend more time looking in the mirror for answers and less time blaming others for not volunteering enough.

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    Replies
    1. That's a tidy little fantasy you've created. It doesn't come close to reality however.

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    2. We all live in our own fantasy worlds. If you view the world as negative, you are correct. If you view the world as positive, you are also correct.

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    3. William Somelinson5/19/15, 10:12 AM

      That couple looked so financially destitute when they appeared before the Selectboard, why didn't the Selectboard just absolutely weep in sympathy and help them unload the buildings on a wealthy neighbor to fix. I mean after all the one attorney made three phone calls to roofers, what more could she do? We didn't expect them to actually come to Springfield and fix the place did we?

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  10. George T. McNaughton5/17/15, 9:02 AM

    Anonymous 6:40, I agree. But there is an element on the Selectboard which does not.

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  11. Ostrowski, Bishop, same ole same ole. The town of Springfield ain't going to tell us what to do, and if they try we either are, or will find a lawyer to threatening, prolonging and spend the towns time and money. Guess what, these people don't live next to these stinking eyesores and don't give a damn about this town. I would only do what is absolutely legal, and proceed forward.

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  12. Because of it's location, it would be easy enough to get rid of. A well aimed runaway truck would have the structure in Clinton Street in seconds! As for Bishops trash pile, Fire got it there, Fire could finish the job.

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  13. why doesn't the select board and health department go after north school,broking windows,rotten plywood over some windows,i bet the basement in that place is not a good place to be

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  14. Does it really matter if an owner is given a 30, 60, 90, or even a year reprieve? It's not as if the town's fortunes are going to miraculously transform just because a few eyesores are removed. The town's root cause problems are economic, which is precisely what causes the blighting, a portion of which has become the latest "target" of the simpleton regime. What about the disgusting "Wreck Center" building at the corner of Clinton and Bridge Streets. That is a pathetic "welcome sign" at the town's gateway, but that's brushed off because its easier to go after the proverbial "little guys" and take credit for having put them in their place.

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  15. Don't agree 11:52.
    Dumps attract rats.

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  16. Looking at the condition of the house from the outside it appears to me that by putting on a new hip roof and entrance step roof and supports, this house could be salvaged.
    As far as the inside it would just be a matter of gutting some rooms and repairing the structure as needed.
    Paint the outside and IMO this old house would look nice and fit in with the other houses in that area.
    Give me the money that would be spend to demolish it and you would be amazed at what I could do.

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