After giving its owners two years to try to fix a house that was badly damaged in a fire, Ellsworth has decided to have it demolished.
City officials had been in communication with the owners about the house at 7 Fairground Road, which caught fire on Feb. 20, 2023. The house sustained significant damage on the second floor and was uninhabitable after the blaze, according to the Ellsworth American.
Robert Grant, the city’s code enforcement officer, said he had been communicating with the family that owns the property, but in recent months, they stopped replying to his emails or phone calls. The family asked the city for time to try to save the home but has done very little, Grant said. A dumpster has had the same four trash bags in it since last summer.
“I think we’ve given them more than ample opportunity to do something, and it hasn’t been done, in my opinion,” Grant told the City Council on Monday night.
He said a rodent control company has placed traps around the property to try to deal with rats, but the company has indicated it will not go inside the house.
Grant said the city could recoup the cost of demolishing the house and hauling away the debris by placing a lien on the property.
Councilor Steve O’Halloran asked Grant if there was anything reasonable the city might do that might generate progress at the site other than tearing the house down, but conceded that the property is dangerous and needs to be dealt with.
“We’ve talked about it for a long time, and we’ve given them more than enough time to prepare, O’Halloran said.
The council agreed that Grant should go ahead and schedule the house for demolition and to try to notify the owners of that date, so they could remove items or perhaps even make the long-awaited repairs before demolition equipment arrives on-site.
