By ANDY GARDNER

North Country Now

MASSENA -- The village will remove part of a dilapidated building deemed a safety hazard as they fight a court battle over what they allege was a fraudulent sale of the structure.

At Tuesday's meeting, the village Board of Trustees voted 3-2 to tear the porch off of 104 East Orvis St.

The vote was 3-2, with trustees Christine Winston and Matt Lebire voting yes, and Mayor Tim Currier casting a tie-breaking vote. Trustees Francis Carvel and Albert Deshaies voted no.

Walter Bean, a firefighter and code enforcement officer, said they tried to get the building's owner at the time, Sal Chaaban, who lives in Canada, to bring the building into compliance after a 2014 fire that left it uninhabitable.

"I made several attempts to contact him after that with no success. Then I was notified the building was sold to a gentleman in Akwesasne," Bean said. "The address on the new letter was the Akwesasne Mohawk Tribal Council offices.

"I contacted Tribal PD. They'd never heard of him."

That sale to the Akwesasne man, Frederick Laughlin, is the subject of the lawsuit the village has filed.

"We believe it to be a fraudulent sale. We've filed suit" to nullify it, Currier said.

Department of Public Works Superintendent Hassan Fayad said the front porch that is near the road and sidewalk poses a public safety hazard.

"I think the immediate concern is, you've got variables out there. If you have a heavy snowfall you have the snow that's moist, you get the weight of that. I'm concerned with the front porch of that structure," Fayad said. "The front porch needs to be addressed as soon as possible."

"By way of removal?" Currier said, to which Fayad said yes.

Because of the lawsuit, Currier prior to the discussion warned the trustees not to say anything that might jeopardize their chances in court.

At one point, Deshaies tried to offer opinions and he was promptly cut off by Lebire.

"Seems like whenever we get involved in one of those things we get held up by insurance," Deshaies said. "This has been going on forever, more than a couple years."

Cutting him off, Lebire said, "We don't want to jeopardize our chances of successful litigation."

"Why are we having this hearing?" Deshaies said.

"This isn't a hearing," Lebire said.

"Okay," Deshaies said, chuckling.