Photo: Jodie Mozdzer Michael Kapral, left, and his girlfriend Jennifer Maybeck, stand near a pile of debris near their home on North Oak Avenue.
That’s the general feeling among residents on North Oak Avenue regarding removal of a pile of the remnants of a 100-year-old home at the end of the street.
The Shelton Board of Aldermen Tuesday approved spending $19,500 to remove the debris — more than eight months after the home at 161 North Oak Avenue was torn down following a mudslide on the cliff at the end of the street.
The mudslide occurred in December and left the home in danger of falling off the cliff, down an embankment onto condominiums below.
“This is long overdue and I’m pleased to see the city is moving forward with this,” said Alderman John “Jack” Finn before the board unanimously voted to appropriate the money from the city’s contingency account.
Board of Aldermen President John Anglace said the removal company — Environmental Services, Inc. — can begin removal of the pile as soon as possible.
Frustration
For the few people living on North Oak Avenue, that day can’t come soon enough.
Residents have complained that the pile has attracted rodents and large birds of prey to the neighborhood.
“We say we have another pet,” Michael Kapral said. “There’s been such an influx of animals, we can’t even keep the garbage outside.”
They are also concerned about environmental and health issues, with 100-year-old home debris laying exposed to wind, rain and the elements.
“Who knows,” Kapral said. “That was an old house. There could be anything in there. Lead-based paint. Asbestos.”
Problems, Delays, Fingerpointing
The situation is the result of a mudslide in December 2009. The home at 161 North Oak Ave. — which was going through the foreclosure process at the time — was left teetering on the edge of the steep cliff after water from a busted pipe washed away the embankment next to and under the foundation.
FILE A before and after shot of the home that was demolished.
Shelton officials paid to have the home demolished after the mudslide because it was a public safety danger.
But the home was on private property, so the city didn’t want to do too much work there on the city’s dime.
The homeowners already owe the city years of back taxes. With the home in foreclosure and no money to get from the homeowners, there is no one to pay the cost of the clean up, officials have said.
On Tuesday, city attorney Tom Welsh said the city will place a lien on the home in order to try to recoup some of the money spent on the demolition and the clean up there.
How much money they can reclaim depends on how much the property is eventually sold for.
The View From Below
The owners of the Riverview Condominiums have been facing the same problem — figuring out who will pay for clean up required after the mudslide.
The condo association shelled out $6,500 to pay to have large trees removed from the danger zone. The trees had fallen on unstable land and could have fallen onto the condos at any moment.
FILE PHOTO Jim Sidoruk directing tree removal at the bottom of the cliff on the day after the mudslide.
“There is no money (in the property owners’ names). We have no one to go after to recoup the loss,” Sidoruk said.
Now the condo association is waiting to hear back whether the city or the state owns a drainage pipe on North Oak Avenue, which keeps pouring water down the embankment and further eroding the side of the cliff.
If some of the damage on the hill is being caused by a city or state drainage pipe, Sidoruk said the owner should help pay for the repairs.
“We’re waiting to get something happening, and nothing’s moving,” Sidoruk said.
Mudslide Coverage
Click on the links below to read past stories about the mudslide, and the clean up efforts at the site.
Shelton Mudslide: Who Will Pay?
Dec. 18: Shelton Home Demolished
