Former Birds Eye site building to come down
CARIBOU, Maine — One building of the former Birds Eye vegetable processing plant on the corner of Fort Street and Route 1 may be coming down soon through force, rather than gravity.
City Council and city administration put forth efforts in 2014 particularly to require property owner Steven R. Nasiff, of the Massachusetts-based Nasiff Land LLC, to clean up the former industrial site. Through the state’s Dangerous Building statute, Nasiff was ordered to adhere to a remediation timeline that included demolishing the buildings by Oct. 31 of 2014.
With deadlines long since past, City Manager Austin Bleess addressed the council during Monday’s meeting and asked for authorization to remove one of the dangerous buildings and its debris from the property.
“We have received the report from the engineer on the structural soundness of the buildings at Nasiff Land LLC. Their report concludes that all of the buildings, with the exception of the guard shack, are unsafe and dangerous,” he explained.
According to the engineer’s opinion obtained by the city, the accessory building closest to the Fort Street and Route 1 intersection is unstable and “susceptible to partial or total collapse at any time,” Bleess told the councilors. “While most of the buildings are unsafe and have substantial structural damage, this one by far is the worst.”
Given the building’s close proximity to the well-traveled intersection, Bleess expressed concern that should the building collapse, it would likely end up in the street.
Bleess didn’t have an anticipated cost, but suggested that it could run between $10,000 and $20,000 to demolish the building with a large part of the expense being dump fees.
“All bills will be submitted to the landowner, and by state law he has 30 days to pay it or it will be added to his property taxes,” the city manager explained.
Bleess also emphasized that the demolition should be done as soon as possible.
Council granted Bleess authorization to arrange for the building to be removed.
Additional information about Monday night’s city council meeting will appear in next week’s issue of the Aroostook Republican.
