By TRACI L. WEISENBACH
For the Advertiser
SEBEWAING — Ever since a demolition company tore down the former Lapeer Metal Stamping plant in this village two years ago, the council has been concerned about blight issues on the property. At a regular meeting earlier this month, council members discussed these issues with an attorney as well as the property’s current owner.
Attorney Gerald Prill, of Ferris, Schwedler and Prill in Bad Axe, attended the council meeting along with Bill DeSmet, current owner of the property, which is located on Center Street in downtown Sebewaing. DeSmet currently has the property for sale.
Prill said there was a pretrial conference in Huron County District Court in early December to discuss the blight issue, as DeSmet had received a second citation for blight, which is a misdemeanor. At the conference, there seemed to be confusion over what needed to be done at the property to address the blight issue, Prill said. He said DeSmet indicated he had heard different things from different people about what the village needed cleaned up at the property. Prill said the pretrial was adjourned to allow time for the confusion to be cleared up.
At the council meeting, DeSmet said he purchased the property from Gentry Demolition, LLC “as is.“ Gentry Demolition and Huntington Machinery tore down a majority of the former metal stamping plant in late 2011. The only part of the plant left standing is the office area, which currently has no utilities.
DeSmet said he purchased the property because he was told by the demolition company that people were interested in purchasing it and it should be a relatively quick sale. He said knowing what he knows now, he wishes he would’ve never purchased it.
He said he received notice of the first ticket for blight this summer, and he thought he took care of the situation at that time. Then, to his surprise, he received a second ticket for blight “that included new issues” and he wasn’t sure what he needed to do. He noted he has “No Trespassing” signs all over the property and the property is covered under liability insurance.
Council members said the remaining blight issues include removing rubbish, such as broken glass and cement block, around the perimeter of the property; removing concrete blocks in the middle of the property (which are now covered in snow), and filling in pits.
While council members reminded DeSmet that as owner, he assumes responsibility for the property, DeSmet said there are certain issues with the property he isn’t responsible for, such as cleanup of contaminated areas. He also didn’t believe he was responsible for the removal of cement blocks in the middle of the property.
“It would take a jackhammer to get those out of there,” he said.
DeSmet said with the current weather conditions, it will be quite difficult to take care of the remaining blight issues. He said if he would’ve known about all of them in the summer, they could’ve been taken care of then.
Village President Sami Khoury said DeSmet was informed of all of the blight issues and he still didn’t take care of all of them, but DeSmet said he had only been informed of some of the issues, and he took care of what he thought needed to be done.
It was mentioned there are outstanding property taxes that need to be paid by DeSmet for the property, and DeSmet acknowledged he’s aware of this.
Council members said the blight issues are a safety concern and the issues need to be addressed as soon as possible. They said a snow fence should be placed around the property as a safety measure and DeSmet said he would do so.
It was agreed upon between the council, Prill and DeSmet that not much can be done during the winter about the blight issues, so the best thing to do would be to ask the court to dismiss the case without prejudice and bring the matter up again in the spring.
Prill and council members agreed that the situation with the property is unfortunate and that DeSmet is in a tough position as the current owner of the property. They said the demolition company didn’t do everything it should’ve done when tearing down the plant. DeSmet said he’s tried many times to contact Gentry Demolition, but “they refuse to return my calls.”
“We just want these issues taken care of,” Khoury said, adding the village wants to work with DeSmet so there is no further confusion about what needs to be done.
Council members wondered if legal action could still be taken against the demolition company. Prill said it would be somewhat of a difficult road to take and could be costly. Larry Heider, council vice president, suggested reviewing the demolition permit again to see if there could be anything there that would provide an avenue for the village to take legal action.
As for the brick building that remains standing, Khoury said it is still in relatively good condition and isn’t considered blight at this point. DeSmet said because of this, he shouldn’t be required to take it down.
In other discussion/action at the recent meeting, council members:
• Discussed the Dec. 9 Department of Public Works Committee meeting, during which an update on the Anton Street bridge project was given. The remaining items will be done in the spring, which include: Finishing the stone base by compacting and grading, placing asphalt over the stone base, side yard grading, seeding and mulching and clean up. The bridge will remain closed during the winter.
• Approved the use of a shotgun or muzzle loader by Sebewaing Township Airport Supervisor Dennis Montei and/or Sebewaing Township Board Trustee Larry Kuhl to hunt up to five does on the Sebewaing Township Airport property to fulfill the block permit as issued by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The shooting does not have to be during regularly posted hunting hours and a light cannot be used in the hunt. Sebewaing council member Vicky Kindler voted no on this motion.
• Okayed a wage increase of $1 an hour as of Dec. 17 for the non-union administrative assistant position. The wage is now $13.24 per hour.