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Council orders demolition of unsafe house and trailer at 70 River St.
Summary
After inspection found collapsed framing, raw sewage, exposed electrical wiring and active structural failure, the council adopted an emergency dangerous-building order requiring the owner to demolish both the primary residence and an adjacent unpermitted trailer; the order allows the city to recover costs via a special tax.
City planning and code officials told the Lewiston City Council that the house at 70 River Street showed catastrophic foundation and framing failure and that an adjacent unpermitted travel trailer was leaking raw sewage and wired with exposed, dangerous electrical connections. Director John Connor and Building Inspector Travis Tardiff described collapsed sills, active water intrusion into the basement, buckling exterior walls and raw sanitation hazards.
Connor said the trailer “has absolutely no running water and no means of disposing of human waste,” and that inspectors documented raw sewage leaking beneath the unit. He also warned that the trailer was powered via dangerous ad hoc wiring and portable generators spliced into bare wires, creating an immediate fire threat independent of the utility meter. Because those conditions posed an imminent danger to life and public health, staff had issued an emergency prompt-action determination and secured the trailer pending a council determination.
Councilors voted unanimously (7–0) to adopt staff’s findings and order immediate corrective action: secure the trailer, demolish both the trailer and the structurally unsafe house within 30 days (unless a city-approved rehabilitation plan is submitted and accepted) and require the owner to reimburse the city for all administrative and demolition costs. If the owner fails to reimburse, the city is authorized to assess a special tax on the property.
Next steps: Planning & Code Enforcement will track compliance and, if needed, the city will execute the demolition and pursue cost recovery per the order and state statutes governing dangerous buildings.
