Neighbors urge Dalton to secure long-vacant 27 Mountain View Terrace, citing health hazards

Craig Wilbur, a neighbor who said he lives on Mountain View Terrace, told the Dalton Select Board on June 22 that a vacant house at 27 Mountain View Terrace has been unsecured and poses ongoing health, safety and quality-of-life problems for nearby residents. He said mattresses and other debris have been left on the lawn for weeks, rodents have appeared in adjacent yards, and windows and doors have been removed, leaving the structure open to trespass. “The contents of the house has been vomited out onto the front lawn,” Wilbur said, describing moldy material and prolonged neglect.

Wilbur said the house has been unoccupied since about 2003, that neighbors have pursued the issue with the Board of Health and that a receivership has not yet secured the property’s exterior. A board member read an email from a Colin Stykes—identified in the record as the owner/respondent and a person working with TM Properties—saying the project is in phased remediation: a clean-out phase has reached 10% and an interior remodel is estimated at about $160,000, with exterior work and further interior phases to follow. The email said the lawn cleanup has begun and the sender would continue to monitor the site.

Kathleen Collenberger, who said she lives next door, described seeing rodents and long-standing debris and urged faster action. Neighbors asked the board to press for exterior security measures (windows and doors secured) and removal of hazardous material from yards. One speaker said workers had removed multiple dumpsters’ worth of interior debris but had not focused on securing the exterior or removing mattresses from the front lawn.

Select Board members acknowledged the complaints and said they would contact the building inspector and Nancy, chair of the Board of Health, to coordinate next steps. The board noted that while the town’s enforcement options can be limited for properties in receivership, the town can and will urge the receiver to meet sanitary-code obligations and remove exterior trash and debris. The Select Board also asked town staff to follow up on securing the site and monitoring rodent concerns.

The board did not take formal enforcement action at the meeting; members described plans to coordinate with the building inspector and Board of Health and to send correspondence pressing the receiver/owner to secure and clean the property. The board encouraged neighbors to report continuing violations to town staff and said it would copy the Board of Health on follow-up messages.