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WELLSVILLE -- The continued closure of Main Street in downtown Wellsville five months after the collapse of the Five and 10 building located at 447-449 Main is leaving residents and local business owners frustrated.
The 400 block of Main Street was closed by order of Fire Chief Barry Podwel after the collapse for safety reasons, with concerns that the remaining portion of the building could fall.
Council Member Cindy Mick questioned during the Aug. 4 council meeting if it is realistic to keep it closed until a resolution is reached in the matter of the village using public funds to demolish the building or hold responsible building owner Angelo DiSenea of Flint, Michigan, who has the building registered ADCD Leasing LLC. Mick noted that she thinks there should be additional conversations about it.
Mayor Bob Boley responded to her by asking if she wanted to take responsibility if the building falls and hurts somebody.
Mick said she didn't believe it would be the village's responsibility and that the responsibility would fall on the owners and that everyone in the village knows who that is. She also noted also that people walk up and down that portion of the street going around the barriers all the time.
Village Administrator Jerry Medley said people also take the barriers down, and there were a number of days he has had to go put them back up.
With the decision to keep the street closed or reopening it laying with Podwel, Boley asked Village Solicitor Chris Weeda if council had a vote in overriding that decision.
Weeda said he would have to do research to find an answer and expressed his concern that with the fire chief and other inspectors saying that it's a safety issue and the village goes around the fire chief, it could open the village up for liability if anything happens with it being declared a safety issue and the village knows it's a safety issue and doesn't take precautions.
Weeda also noted that they don't know if that building is going to fall, but the one time precautions aren't taken is the one time someone is driving their car down the road or walking on the sidewalk and the building falls on them or debris hits them, which is what they want to avoid happening.
Weeda told council during the Aug. 4 meeting that he had a phone conference regarding the building and got mediation set for Nov. 4, which is further out than he wanted. The mediation is to see if the village and building can come to an agreement. If no agreement is reached during the mediation, then the matter will go to trial on April 1.
Weeda also said that DiSenea's attorney told him that DiSenea is willing to give the village the building and Weeda told him they don't want the building, the village wants it torn down, and that DiSenea's attorney is talking with his insurance company and will get back to Weeda with any updates.
DiSeneas' attorney also told Weeda that the insurance company for ADCA Leasing LLC said they would pay for any remedial efforts that the village had prior and is looking to see if there is any coverage for getting it torn down. Weeda is going to see if the $36,000 the city paid Kerr Construction for the equipment brought to demolish the building when it first collapsed but was not used due to the village deciding the funds weren't there to cover the cost of the demo, would be covered under the remedial efforts.
Medley and Weeda both said they along with everyone else in the village would like to see the street reopened, but the liability is an issue.
Multiple council members and residents expressed concerns over who pays for the building demo if the suit is unsuccessful or if the village wins the suit and DiSenea files bankruptcy to get out of paying for it.
Ryan Burgess, who owns a business on the closed portion of the street, along with several other residents questioned why the road wasn't closed in front of other buildings that had started to fall and if the village has any plan in place in case something like this should happen again.
Despite the frustration of the village administration and residents, the 400 block of Main Street remains closed until a resolution regarding the building is reached.