Joseph Nappi’s family has owned the house he lives in on Gorham Road in Scarborough since 1965. An attached barn has been in bad condition since Nappi can remember, and the storms this winter have made it even worse.

The town’s code enforcement office has deemed the barn a hazardous structure that must be torn down – a project Town Manager Ron Owens said will cost between $7,500 and $13,500.

Nappi agrees, but there’s one problem. “I can’t afford to do it myself,” he said.

Resolutions to allow the town to remove such hazardous structures came before the Scarborough Town Council at a meeting May 16, and sparked a discussion about whether the town should be responsible for these buildings and if demolishing them is an appropriate measure to take if the situation arises in the future.

Last June, the Scarborough Code Enforcement office added officer Jon Reed to its staff, which has given the department more opportunities to inspect buildings in town that may be hazardous to both the public and the property owners. Recently, code enforcement determined that two deteriorating barns – Nappi’s and another on Black Point Road – are dangerous structures, but in both cases, the property owners can’t afford to tear down the buildings themselves.

Code Enforcement Officer Tom Reinsborough was on hand at the meeting to answer questions from the council. Councilor Shawn Babine asked how a building came to be classified as a dangerous structure.

“It’s always more or less a personal call whether you want to get involved or not,” Reinsborough said. “You can overlook many, many things, but when a building becomes in the condition like it is now, it really is a public nuisance.”

The council passed the resolution to remove the Nappi’s barn, 4-2, with councilors Richard Sullivan and Carol Rancourt opposed and Ronald Ahlquist absent. A second resolution regarding the Black Point Road structure owned by Albert and Cecilia Lindholm – a project that will cost between $15,000 and $30,000 and include building a new entranceway and stairs – raised more questions and caused some of the councilors to change their minds about the issue.

Pictures of the second structure showed that it was attached to the main building, which Babine said presented a different situation than the first structure. Reinsborough clarified that the Gorham Road structure was also attached to another building.

“That changes my perspective,” Babine said.

Owens fielded questions about the why the town is responsible for the structures in a more general sense, but also said, with the barns in question, there is now an aspect of liability for the town.

“You cannot just leave it there once you’ve identified it as a hazardous structure,” Owens said. “Everyone now is responsible, in part, for that structure.”

Sullivan questioned why code enforcement was going out looking for hazardous structures at all, if it was going to cause a liability issue for the town.

“We now have the staff to do some of the things that we are required to do in terms of ensuring that our structures here in the community are safe structures. These are two examples that stood out very clearly,” Owens said. “We don’t go out and look for structures that are marginal.”

Owens reminded the council that every enforcement action taken, such as pulling someone over for speeding and having to send a police officer to court, creates a cost for the town.

“Part of what we are responsible for doing is protecting the public,” Owens said.

Reinsborough said the only other option the town would have at this point would be to take the property owners to court.

“This is an opportunity to keep citizens that have lived here for a long time in the town,” he said. “As far as ignoring problems that are around town, that’s not my charge. Our charge is to keep a safe town and to look out for the welfare and infrastructure of the town.”

Owens said there has only been one other similar situation in the past couple of years, and Chairman Jeff Messer said he can only recall three others in his 11 years on the council.

“It’s not something the town has been telling code enforcement, ‘Let’s run around and find some buildings to tear down,'” Messer said. “At some point you have to do what’s good for the public, and I don’t think there’s much question that needs to be done in this case.”

The council approved the removal of the Black Point Road structure in a 5-1 vote, with Babine opposed.

Reinsborough said in an interview that the next step will be for the town’s attorney to draw up a preliminary consent agreement for the property owners to sign. He said he is unsure of when the structures will be demolished.

“It is a common occurance to deal with dangerous structures, but it is not a common occurance that it will go this far,” Reinsborough said. “This is a good vehicle to keep people in their homes.”