BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

CANTON -- A former residential apartment rental building destroyed by a fire on Feb. 27, 2022 is now under county control, allowing for a full cleanup of the site.

County legislators approved a resolution to transfer the property to county control during the full board meeting on April 1.

Officials say the village of Rensselaer Falls had contacted the county to request a cleanup of the property and to proceed with litigation against the owner for tax delinquency, however a deal was struck to avoid litigation and to speed the process along.

Taxes due on the property along with interest totaled $173.88, along with fees of $46.90. Unpaid taxes from 2024 were not re-levied at the time of the meeting, which would further add to the debt, county officials said.

The property, formerly owned by Palazzo Nails Spa, Inc., with now undergo a transfer of title in lieu of foreclosure after County Attorney Steve Button approached the property owner about the matter.

Button previously told legislators that the property will see the remaining structure demolished, with fill put in afterward. The county will then auction off the property, he said.

“The community has struggled for the last couple of years how to deal with that property, which was shuffled around in corporate structures,” Button told legislators during the March 25 finance committee meeting.

Button said when he reached out to the property owners, they were unaware it was even under their ownership after the corporate restructuring and shifting was complete.

“They were happy to offload it and get out from under it,” Button said.

According to Button, the property is “a perfect property” for the county Blighted Property Program.

Work is underway with environmental review being completed, confirming the property has never had petroleum products on site. Button said that will speed along the cleanup process significantly.

“We have already contacted the DEC about the property...we are pretty pleased with where we are at and think it is a prime target for our program,” he said.

Button said the county will have a “receptive audience” in Rensselaer Falls who will be happy to have the burned out remains of the property removed from the heart of their downtown.

Real Property Tax Law allows any municipality to “accept a conveyance of the interstate of any person haven any right, title, interest, claim, lien or equity of redemption” in a parcel to transfer the property to the municipality in lieu of foreclosure of a tax lien. The local government much authorize by a resolution of the governing body to proceed with such a transfer.

County officials say that with the property now under county control, they will be able to move forward with a clean up of the property, which has been the goal of the village of Rensselaer Falls and the county as well.

Cleanup costs will be covered through the Blighted Property Program that was established by the county.