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WELLSVILLE - Village council Monday voted unanimously to have the village assume ownership of the collapsed Five and 10 building.
What to do with the derelict unsafe structure at 449 Main St. has been a touchy subject among residents and administration since the building’s collapse on March 7 left the 400 block of Main Street indefinitely closed due to safety concerns surrounding further collapse of the building.
Residents want Main Street reopened, but the village lacks the financial means to pay for the building’s demolition and Fire Chief Barry Podwel has made it clear the street will remain closed until the building comes down.
Through numerous discussions at council meetings and a lawsuit filed against the owner by Village Solicitor Columbiana County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Weeda on behalf of the village, the village has had no luck in securing the needed funding for demolition.
With the structure being owned by Angelo DiSena, ADCD Lease LLC, Flint, Michigan, the village is not able to apply for any grants to assist them with the demolition costs.
Council President Keith Thorn requested an executive session to discuss pending litigation and invited Mayor Bob Boley, Fiscal Officer Hoi Wah Yu and Weeda to join them.
Following the brief executive session, the council voted to return to an open meeting where Thorn explained that he and Weeda had been working on something in a meeting between him, Weeda and Boley.
Thorn then turned the floor over to Weeda who said that there were mediations held this past Wednesday regarding the building and they are being incised to obtain funding to tear the building but in order to obtain any funding the building that has to be in the village’s name. Once that happens, the village will be able to apply for grants and other funding sources.
Weeda said throughout the mediations, attorneys for Owens agreed that pending council approval they would make it a priority to transfer the building to the village and in exchange they would submit the $36,000 bill the village was being sued over by Kerr Construction for the staging of demolition equipment for a week before the village decided they were not going to pay to tear it down.
Council members also unanimously passed a resolution authorizing a deviation from formal bidding as a result of an emergency and directing the village administrator to enter into a contract regarding the Davison Alley main sewer line full replacement and an ordinance to increase appropriations for the current expenses and other expenditures of the village. Both items were passed by emergency measures.
The Wellsville Village Council meets the first and third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. in council chambers at Wellsville Village Hall. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Nov. 17.