
Photo by Autumn Driscoll
The building at 195 Main St. in Derby.
The City of Derby’s corporation counsel said the city is proceeding with a legal action against the property owner of a problematic building at 195 Main St.
The city wants to establish a formal timeline so that repairs continue on the four-story building at the corner of Minerva Street and Main Street across from the City Hall parking lot, according to statements Derby city lawyer Vin Marino made during a meeting of the city’s Board of Aldermen/Alderwomen Thursday.
“We are continuing to monitor the matter and we will be proceeding with a court proceeding,” Marino said.
The building is owned by Derby Shores, LLC.
It has been vacant since August 2015.
The building was badly damaged in a blizzard in 2013, according to a lawsuit pending in court the owners filed against an insurance company.
On March 13, Derby firefighters noticed one of the building’s chimneys brick chimneys was listing toward Main Street. They checked it out using a ladder truck.
The building inspector confirmed the diagnosis and declared the building unsafe, and the city placed barriers on the sidewalk in front of the building to protect the public.
The mayor’s office was worried the front of the building was going to fall off onto Main Street/Route 34, a busy road. Valley Indy Facebook readers pointed out the building was an eyesore and the roof looked like it was sagging.
But an engineer hired by the owner said the building was structurally sound and not in danger of collapse. He gave the city a report saying the front fascade had issued that needed to be addressed.
But nothing was done to secure the front of the building, which was shedding pieces of stucco.
On March 24, the listing chimney collapsed into the building, with bricks falling down to the sidewalk below.
About a week later, someone lit a mattress on fire behind the building, causing minor damage.
Scaffolding and netting to protect the public was eventually put up by the owners, at the behest of Derby officials.
Marino, the Derby corporation counsel, said last week that the city has been in talks with Michael Hillis, a lawyer who is the ​“managing member” of the limited liability company that owns the building.
Just prior to the scaffolding going up, Marino said he told Hillis the City of Derby would be ​“commencing a legal proceeding so that we would have a judicial order to establish a specific timeframe to remediate any concerns that remain.”

Photo by Autumn Driscoll
The sidewalk where bricks previously fell from hour stories above.
Derby had initially received a report from its engineer declaring the building unsafe — but that engineer had not inspected the building’s interior. The owner’s engineer looked inside and declared the building structurally sound.
Marino said the city considered demolishing the building, but learned there were environmental issues that would have made the demolition very expensive. The city backed off that position once it received a report from the owner’s engineer certifying the building wasn’t going to collapse.