BETHEL — Once again, unsafe buildings and properties was the subject of much conversation at the recent town board meeting last week.

Six locations were on the docket that evening and were deemed unsafe with multiple violations from the Town of Bethel Building Department.

The Building Department requested the town board take action so the department can move forward resolving the violations with the property owners.

Each are located throughout the town of Bethel and needed the approval from the board to go ahead with either an engineer or asbestos report so the removal of these unsafe properties can begin.

The expense for removing the unsafe properties will fall on the owners themselves. The town is expected to file the necessary paperwork to levy the owners' taxes in order to recoup the expenses from reports and future demolition work.

The sites are::

9 Thompson Place

Engineer and Asbestos Report areneeded

13 West Sullivan Place

Asbestos Report needed

192 Lee Cole Road

Asbestos Report needed

16 East Mongaup Trail

Engineer and Asbestos Report

96 East Thompson Place

Asbestos Report needed

State Route 55 and Central Avenue

A public hearing was set for August 22, 2018

The property on State Route 55, across from Bethel Town Hall is a lot that is owned by White Lake Resorts.

The lot has a foundation that was deemed unsafe and in need of major cleanup according to the engineers report.

The town has scheduled a public hearing for August 22 at the Duggan Center so the owners of the White Lake Resorts can once again answer the violations that have been brought before them.

The majority of these properties have been down this road before. “They haven't gone anywhere except get older and more unsightly,” said Town Supervisor Dan Sturm.

According to Sturm, after the public hearing, if the owners have not responded, the town will go forward with the clean up of the lot. The owner's taxes will be levied with the cost of the clean up.

“This is an unsightly place and it's across from town hall,” said Sturm.

At some of the locations in the past, a demolition stop order was issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) due to the asbestos inspector that was hired by the town was found to be uncertified by the DOL.

“The inspector had to reimburse us all the money we paid him to inspect three locations for us before he cleared up the matter with the DOL ,” added Sturm.

According to Sturm each location had cost the town $400 for the inspection by the inspector that deemed not certified by the DOL.

The town promises to hire a certified asbestos inspector to redo the reports that were done in the past.