BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM — The new owner of 7 Pine St., an engineer and former graduate of Clarkson University, said he plans to demolish the decrepit property.

But first he is asking local law enforcement to clear the site of possible drug residues or materials so he can move ahead with the work.

The property was recently singled out at the May 28 village board meeting by the owner of the Agway store across the street and by another Pine Street resident. The building and the lot at 7 Pine was criticized for its condition and blamed for a rat problem in the area and at the Agway store.

Terrance Smith, a Massachusetts-based engineer, closed on the building and property earlier this year in February under the auspices of his company Weir Engineering, LLC, but only after a great deal of legal hoops to clear. Smith said he wanted to tell his side of the story so those critical of the property’s condition would know he has been working to get the building and lot secure and cleaned up.

Smith closed on the property only after a long process which started with a verbal sale agreement with the former owner Stephen Ferruzza, a businessman with property in the area and multiple business ventures on the East and West Coast, in July 2023.

Smith recently had purchased and was remodeling 5 Pine St., when he noticed strange comings and goings at the house next door.

“It was like Ghostbusters in the middle of the night there,” he said.

Heavy night time traffic to the house revealed extensive drug trafficking and probably manufacturing at the building.

In addition to the obvious drug activity there, squatters were living in the 7 Pine building rent free. Smith eventually had enough and decided to buy the property to clean it up.

After the verbal sale agreement he set up security cameras at his other property and captured hours of deals and traffic to the house at all hours.

Smith said he handed about 40 pages of photos from the cameras over to the village police.

“The front had addicts in it and drugs were going out the back,” Smith said.

The building was condemned by the village on Dec. 13, 2023 and Smith and Ferruzza signed off the purchase and sale agreement for $35,000 on Dec. 14, 2023.

 But in order to have the squatters and tenant removed legally, Smith would have to wait a bit longer. Smith blamed state rental laws under Governor Kathy Hochul which allow squatters a great deal of latitude and leeway to continue occupying properties that they don’t own or pay rent for. “The squatters have more rights than the property owners do,” said Smith.

And, a previous attempt to secure a court ordered eviction notice for the remaining tenant had been dismissed on the same day the purchase agreement was signed. However, Smith said his and Ferruzza’s lawyers were able to find a section in the state rental law they could use to take back the property.

“If squatters abandon a building for 10 days you can go in and close it up and that’s what happened,” he said.  

The building’s occupants cleared out sometime around Jan. 1. Smith began securing the property the weekend of Jan. 12-15 for safety reasons, building a chain link fence around the building and back lot, taping off the back stairs, and shutting off the water service.

Smith closed on the property in February and has been engaged in more extensive cleanup.

This past week he has boarded up windows and doors and continued getting the property ready for demolition.

Smith added some additional messages to the building in addition to the condemned sign posted by the village codes office to keep unwanted visitors away. A sign there reads “Crack House Closed,” and there are large red X marks, and signs warning trespassers they are on camera,

The gas service had long been off for a number of years Smith said. The squatters and tenants who had been living in the building were using space heaters and toaster ovens to keep warm, all of which he took out when cleaning the property. Needles and burner phones were found on the lot as well, Smith said.

Smith said the building was dangerous.

“There should have been no one living in that building,” he said.

“Daryl (Kolanko) from Agway was right that the building should have been demolished a long time ago,” Smith said.

“All of the neighbors have seen what I was trying to do, but it takes time. There are legal things you have to do,” Smith said.

All in, the clean up so far has been no small investment. In addition to the $35,000 he spent to purchase the lot and the building on it, another $15,000 has been invested in cleanup and other site work so far.

Smith said 14 tons of debris and refuse which might have attracted rats outside in the backyard of the building was long since cleaned out last year in July after he secured the verbal agreement to buy the lot and had the owner’s permission.

As to the claim that the building is the source of a rat infestation, Smith said there could be other reasons.

“I would imagine that when you heap thousands of pounds of black oil sunflower seed, thousands of pounds of animal feed and thousands of pounds of dog food, that pest control must be a regular issue for businesses like that,” Smith said of the Agway across the street.

He also pointed out that the neighborhood there is bisected by a railroad corridor, multiple storm sewers and drainage ditches, all of which could be rat habitat.

“My intent is for that building to be demolished,” he said.

He said most of what he has been doing this past week is to prepare the building to be razed.

The electrical service still needs to be shut off and Smith said he is requesting that the village police or county sheriff’s deputies with a K9 unit or even the fire department wearing proper Hazmat gear inspect the property for drug materials so no one is exposed to harmful chemicals during the demolition.

Once that step is done he can apply for a demolition permit.

“I’m really willing to work with the village on this,” Smith said, adding that he really appreciates the assistance he has received from the Potsdam police department and other local law enforcement officials he has received on the property thus far.