'Unsafe' building headed for appeal hearing

A dilapidated portion of a dingy, boarded-up house at 21-23 Valley St., leans precariously close to the Valley Street Brook in downtown Springfield.
http://eagletimes.villagesoup.com/p/unsafe-building-headed-for-appeal-hearing/1413463

'Unsafe' building headed for appeal hearing By ALLAN STEIN | Sep 21, 2015 Photo by: Allan Stein The fire-damaged property at 21-23 Valley St. has been deemed unsafe by the town and a section has been ordered torn down. Valley Street House A shed section of a house at 21-23 Valley St. leans precariously close over the Valley Street Brook. (Photo by: Allan Stein) Enlarge... SPRINGFIELD — A dilapidated portion of a dingy, boarded-up house at 21-23 Valley St., leans precariously close to the Valley Street Brook in downtown Springfield. Should it come tumbling down into the stream below, the resulting flooding could wreak havoc along Main Street, according to the findings of a town and structural engineer's report. "We don't want to wait to find out," said Town Manager Tom Yennerell on Friday. On July 20, the town issued Donald and Jean Bishop, the building's owners, an order declaring the fire-damaged building to be unsafe and an imminent threat to public health and safety. The Bishops plan to fight the May 11 town order at a public hearing scheduled with selectmen on Sept. 28. The order followed an inspection and report by town public safety officials and a structural engineer, which declared the building a "material menace" and "dangerous to life, safety or the general health and welfare" of the town. "The foundation has missing sections. It is cracked and leaning and broken. The walls are missing sections, leaning, broken, and otherwise damaged. The exterior stairs, porches and balconies are missing sections, leaning and broken," the report said. The town order instructed the Bishops to demolish the front porch and restore the building's crumbling foundation to code. While the report found that most of the foundation is "deteriorated or collapsing." the walls of a shed section are also collapsing and leaning heavily. If the shed were to collapse into the Valley Street Brook, the report said, it could cause "large scale flooding due to (an) immediate downstream culvert." The brook feeds into the Connecticut River in downtown Springfield. The Bishops had 60 days to file an appeal. There are no outstanding taxes on the property, said town Bookkeeper Jan Rogers. In the meantime, the building will remain vacant until satisfactory repairs have been made and certified by a Vermont structural engineer, Yennerell said.