Bishop gets temporary reprieve from demolition order

The attorney for the owner of a downtown building under a town demolition order won a postponement of an appeal hearing after he complained he hadn’t received the correct engineer’s report on the dilapidated Valley Street building.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150822/NEWS02/708229957

Three of the four buildings on Valley Street in Springfield have been posted as unsafe or are awaiting a demolition hearing. Photo: Photo by Len EmeryPublished August 22, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Bishop gets temporary reprieve from demolition order By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — The attorney for the owner of a downtown building under a town demolition order won a postponement of an appeal hearing after he complained he hadn’t received the correct engineer’s report on the dilapidated Valley Street building. The Select Board had voted to condemn the building at 21-23 Valley St. last month, and owners Donald and Jean Bishop had filed an appeal of the order. Bishop’s attorney, Richard Bowen of Springfield, said he only got an engineer’s report on the building from the town last Friday, when the appeal hearing was slated for Monday night, not giving him enough time to respond. The building has long been the subject of town attention. It sits next to a vacant lot where Bishop’s other Valley Street building was torn down by the town in spring, But until recently, the building was assumed to be structurally sound, even if it was an eyesore. Bowen argued that portion of Valley Street had been closed to the public because of an ongoing sewer project, and thus Bishop’s engineer couldn’t get in to examine the building. Bowen also complained that the contractor had parked equipment next to Bishop’s building, prohibiting access. Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerell said later Bishop had given permission to the contractor to park equipment on his now-vacant lot. And Yennerell said while the road is closed to traffic at some times during the day, other businesses, including the Perkins Deli, had remained open. Yennerell said the most recent Bishop appeal hearing was scheduled for Sept. 28. Bishop’s properties have resulted in three appeal hearings — including his neighboring building on Valley Street and a fire-damaged house he owns on Wall Street. The Wall Street demolition order has been appealed to Windsor Superior Court. The other Valley Street property was appealed all the way to the Vermont Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the town. Yennerell said the engineer’s report had been completed on May 26, but neither Bishop nor his attorney had asked for it until Bowen’s request last Friday. Yennerell said the town’s consulting engineer, Todd Hindinger of Heritage Engineers of Perkinsville, analyzed the house in spring and determined that the house “had huge issues.” The building was seriously damaged by fire many years ago, and partially rebuilt and closed in. Yennerell said once the neighboring house had been demolished, its structural problems became much more visible this spring. “I asked Todd to take another look at it,” Yennerell said.