Town orders safety repairs on Eldred porch

By DAVID HULSE

ELDRED, NY — Invoking the town’s unsafe building ordinance, the Highland Town Board has ordered owner Linda Pisanelli to make repairs to the porch of her building at 562 Route 55 in Eldred.

Bruce Frazier, who represents the town’s contracted code enforcement agent, Fusco Engineering of Middletown, said he served Pisanelli with the board’s order on October 4.

The board’s order requires that repairs be undertaken within 30 days and completed within 60 days.

Pisanelli had not responded to a request for a comment at press time.

Problems with the porch include a buckled support pillar, loose boards and apparent water damage. Frazier said he saw the deterioration, did an external inspection with an engineer from Fusco and posted it as unsafe in late July. Barricades, pylons and yellow incident tape were placed around the sidewalk under the porch to prevent pedestrian use.

Notifying the owner then, Frazier said Pisanelli assured him a contractor would make repairs. No repairs were made and Frazier said the owner claimed Monday that the contractor has been too busy to undertake the work.

Frazier said the yellow tape and his original notice were removed, but has no evidence of who was responsible for removing them.

Frazier said the four-story building, opposite the First National Bank of Jeffersonville branch, apparently has one tenant, but that the unsafe building notice does not affect the living space, only the porch. He said he has not done an interior inspection.

The notice now mandates repairs to begin by November 4, or the town will contract to have them done and charge the cost to Pisanelli’s tax bill. Noting that Pisanelli is two years in arrears in paying property taxes on the building, Frazier added, “It’s an eyesore and I don’t know what she’s going to do with it.”