Village of Massena Code Enforcement officers have shuttered the property located at 18 Park Avenue following a failed fire inspection. The property, called a “nuisance” by many residents at a recent meeting, has been a controversy in the village for several months. NCN photo.

BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- Village of Massena officials are establishing a subcommittee to overhaul village code regulations that some officials have called "insufficient and outdated" for many situations encountered today.

Mayor Greg Paquin recently made the announcement after a string of properties were found to be in violation of village code.

Despite the efforts of the Code Enforcement Office, Paquin and Code Enforcement Officer Aaron Hardy say the code is in dire need of an overhaul.

“In essence, this would be looking at the code in terms of rental properties, but also in terms of repeat offenders,” Paquin said.

Hardy will be a member of the board, along with Deputy Mayor Chad Simpson and Trustee Ken McGowan. Paquin said more members with backgrounds in code and planning will be added in the near future.

He commented that he had already sought assistance from Dennis Kemison and Todd Manning, both of whom agreed to take part in the committee.

Paquin noted he would also speak to Don Lucas, a Massena landlord who has been increasingly vocal about a number of violations near his properties in recent months.

"I think he'd be great too," Paquin commented.

Paquin said that would likely make up the committee to review the village code, however changes could come in the future.

He said the committee will continually meet to overhaul the code, likely for the first time in the next couple of weeks.

"This isn’t going to be one meeting. I’d like to see your first meeting be within the month, and then progressively work and be ready to present something to us, say for the April or May meeting so that code can take effect," Paquin said.

Code enforcement has been a hot topic in Massena in recent months with village officials taking action on a number of properties.

Trustees have already taken action on 18 Park Ave., 31 and 33 Pine St., along with 21 Tamarack St., all of which were deemed unsafe structures that were not fit for habitation by humans.

Violations have piled up for each property with 18 Park Ave. proving troublesome for residents, code enforcement and law enforcement alike.

In the case of the Pine St. structures, they were deemed to pose a risk to pedestrians and neighboring properties, according to Code Enforcement Officer Walter Bean.

Hardy also commented on the Tamarack St. structure, saying it had multiple code violations that, if left unanswered, would give Hardy’s office the authority to address the issues at the property.

“I think this is the right way forward with it. Once we get it cleaned up, we may have to come back in a month or two to establish an emergency and board it up for an unsafe structure. But, we need to be able to really see this whole property from top to bottom,” Hardy said.

Trustees are also expected to take action on 40-42 Woodlawn Ave., the former Woodlawn Hotel, at the next board meeting on Oct. 15 as well.

Hardy said he issued an initial report detailing the structure’s integrity and condition, prompting him to recommend the board take action on the property.

He recently said the structure has been on his radar multiple times in recent months.

The structure, which has been boarded up in the past, has had water issues for some time, he said.

Along with those issues, the village also is forced to utilize a contractor to maintain the yard of the property. Those bills are then passed on to the owner, who then pays them on their tax bill, officials said.

Upon review, Hardy said the structure “hit pretty much every single” requirement to be legally deemed an unsafe structure.

Broken doors, windows and significant structural issues persist, he said.

Hardy submitted photographs to the village board for their review.

“The structural issues are my biggest concern. If you look at the opening on that one corner of the building, you can see the weather rot. You can see the structural members starting to collapse floor by floor on that thing,” Hardy said.

Trustees will hold a public hearing Oct. 15 at 5:30 p.m. to address concerns about the property.