By MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER

marcie@bradfordera.com

Five of the six properties added to the Board of Health’s nuisance list Tuesday sit high above West Corydon Street, and a homeless encampment was in the area when a city official went to inspect them.

The board also heard a status conference about the lack of progress on 39-43 Mechanic St., a large building visible at a busy downtown intersection.

Regarding the nuisances, the properties above West Corydon Street were 3, 5 and 19 Buffalo St., 27 Terrace St. and 11 Tuna Ave. The sixth property deemed a nuisance at the meeting was 40 Poplin Ave.

Health director Brandon Plowman said there’s a significant amount of trash and debris in the area of the five properties, which ‘resembles a dumping ground.’ When he was approaching the area, he noticed smoke coming from the hillside. When he approached, he saw a makeshift tent and a person in a reclining chair.

‘There are human activities in the area,’ Plowman said. He noted, too, that all of the structures are dangerous.

The board members discussed how to get to the properties for demolition, and whether to include all of them on one contract.

‘These are some of the worst of the worst and we are going to get them all cleaned up, which is good,’ board member Tom Riel stated.

The property at 3 Buffalo St., listed as owned by Rodney and Chrystal Griffin, is in the county repository. Plowman said the structure is entirely collapsed and not habitable. At 5 Buffalo St., which is in the repository, the property owner, Samuel Rotolo Jr., is deceased, and city records indicate his sister, Emily Rainaldi of Ambridge is the person in care of the property. Plowman said the roof and the front porch have entirely collapsed, and the rest of the structure is dangerous and in various stages of collapse.

At 19 Buffalo St., the property owner is Fred Curtis of Alice, Texas. The property is collapsing, the roof is partially collapsed and the roof rafters appear to be snapping,

Health… page A-8

This property at 40 Poplin Ave. was one of six added to the public nuisance list this week by the Bradford City Board of Health.

Era photo by Sara Furlong Plowman said, explaining it is close to total collapse.

The property at 27 Terrace St. is in the repository, and is listed as owned by Curt Cox. The structure is in complete disrepair and is severely deteriorated. While there are areas of the structure that are accessible, the floors inside are spongy. There were no signs of squatters, Plowman said, but it appeared someone had been living in a tent nearby.

The property at 11 Tuna Ave. is in the repository, and is owned by Joseph Goodwin.

“The structure has entirely collapsed and should be considered dangerous,” Plowman said. There is no foundation or piers that would be structurally serviceable.

The other property, at 40 Poplin Ave., is owned by Kathleen Miller, who has also used Sherwood as a last name. Plowman said the roof shingles are curling and weather worn, the soffit and fascia on the entire exterior of the structure in poor condition, the stone facade is in poor condition and is falling off in places.

The windows and siding are in poor condition, overgrown trees are causing structural damage, the electrical service cable is deteriorated and dangerous, and there’s a large amount of garbage around the property.

In March, there was a complaint regarding raw sewage coming from under the house. There were numerous people living in the structure at the time. Other agencies were contacted to get involved.

“The sewage had overflowed from the crawl space area and had reached throughout the entire back of the yard. The occupants were pumping the sewage out from underneath the structure with a shop vac and dumping it in a tote and dragging the tote out into the backyard and dumping it directly behind the accessory structure,” according to the health department.

All of the properties were declared public nuisances.

The board received a letter of appeal from Francis Miller Jr. regarding the property at 245 South Ave. An appeal hearing will be held May 6.

A nuisance waiver was approved for a property at 15 Ascension St., owned by Charles Abrams of Stroudsburg. The property, which is in the county repository, was condemned on Nov. 30, 2023.

Status conference Also at the meeting, Wilber Wright, owner of 39-43 Mechanic St., attended by phone for a status conference, and learned the board wasn’t happy with his lack of progress.

Riel explained one of the conditions set by the board when allowing Wright to continue with renovations of the building was that he was to appear in January before the Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB). He did not.

“And here we are now,” Riel said.

Board president Fred Proper said Wright had provided a list of proposed renovations prior to the meeting, but did not include a timeline.

Wright told the board he had mailed documents to the city in December; the city did not receive them. He said he contacted the city in February and learned they had not received anything, and was told he could resubmit his application to HARB. However, he said he’s been out of town for work and hasn’t had a chance to pick up his drawings. He said he’s recommitted to providing them to the city by April 23. Board member Kris Goll pointed out that Wright neglected to contact the city until after he should have met with HARB. Wright admitted that was correct, saying it slipped his mind with the holidays. When he didn’t receive any notifications of the HARB review process is when he contacted the city to find out what was going on.

Riel asked that if Wright were to be approved by HARB, how quickly he planned to move forward. Wright indicated he planned to start with the roof, and then proceed with the storefront.

A large window in the front of the building had been broken out and boarded up recently. Wright said he would have the exterior work on the property done by the end of this summer.

Riel noted there is a lot of moisture in the building that would need to be aired out. At a March meeting, he had noted the floor looked like a green carpet with the moss that was growing on it.

Proper asked when Wright was last in the building; the answer was October.

Goll asked Wright how long he has owned the building; Wright said five years. Goll asked if he could estimate how much work he had put into the building in those five years; Wright replied not a lot.

“So basically the city has had to deal with this for over five years with the building looking like it does in a main intersection in the city, correct?” Goll asked Wright.

Wright said, “That is correct.”

Goll then said that after the board extended him the courtesy “of allowing Mr. Wright time he neglected to move forward with what was agreed upon after he was told the board did not have an appetite for negligent property owners in the city.”

Board member Terry Lopus said the board works to give property owners every opportunity to rehabilitate their properties. “While you haven’t been here for six months, we ride by that building several times a day, most of us. And it certainly doesn’t look good and it is discouraging.”

Riel asked Wright why the board should believe him when he states that he will get the work done, when nothing has been completed in the last 6 ½ months.

“You have my honest word. I understand we had this conversation before, but my intention is to move forward with the plans that I have submitted and get the HARB process rolling, so once that’s approved I can move forward,” Wright said.

City solicitor Mark Hollenbeck said the board couldn’t take action because of the meeting being a status conference unless both parties would agree to any action. Hollenbeck did note the code enforcement department could work on another course of action, as well.

Goll said in his opinion that the city has dealt with the property long enough and that he didn’t find Wright credible. Goll said in his opinion the city should move forward in enforcing the city codes and to get it on the list to tear the building down.

The board determined that Wright needed to submit drawings before April 23 to the city, and commit to attending the HARB meeting in May for their consideration. Significant, measurable work must be completed on the structure by June 15, and contracts for work on the roof, storefront, brick pointing and so on must be submitted to the city.

Goll urged that no agreement be made without following through on enforcing the city codes in regard to the building.

Special counsel Tyler Hannah described the recent problems, and said a report had been prepared by E&M Engineers, which was given to the board to review.

“Up until this time, the city has seen no improvements to the property other than Mr. Wright’s representatives boarding up that window,” Hannah said. “Other than that, nothing has been done whatsoever.”

Robert Cathers IV of E&M Engineers addressed the board regarding the inspection and report. His professional opinion would be that it would cost more to repair the building than replace it, and that it needs to be demolished.

Wright asked for a copy of the report. Riel asked if Wright had any plans to visit the property in the immediate future and that it would be in his interest to do so.

“Sounds like it, yes sir,” Wright responded.