Business

Greenport looks to force Meson Ole building owners to act

The former Meson Ole building, where village authorities allege multiple code violations. (Credit: Paul Squire)
The former Meson Ole building, where village authorities allege multiple code violations. (Credit: Paul Squire)

The Greenport Village Board has authorized taking legal action against the owner of a building that used to house a Meson Ole restaurant to force him to address code violations at the abandoned building.

The vote to OK legal action was approved unanimously at Wednesday night’s board meeting.

Village administrator Paul Pallas said that hours before the meeting, the village received word that some of the issues at the former Meson Ole restaurant on Third Street had been addressed, though he said inspectors had not yet had a chance to check on the property.

The building has been vacant for several years.

During the Village Board’s meeting, Mr. Pallas said the building had a leaky roof and a front porch and deck that were “not in good shape.” He also said that a fire suppression water line had frozen and broke open inside the three-story wooden building, posing a fire hazard.

The village also suspects that an alarm system at the building is not working.

Mr. Pallas said the village has “had difficulty finding anybody who’s taking responsibility for the building.”

“We were in touch with [the owner] and then he just disappeared,” Mr. Pallas told The Suffolk Times. Previous attempts to reach the owner of the building by the newspaper were unsuccessful.

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The former Meson Ole building, where village authorities allege multiple code violations. (Credit: Grant Parpan)

He said one person who’s listed as an owner, Tito Figueroa, has been unresponsive and an ownership group that was listed as an owner no longer exists.  But, he said, the village has been in contact with a bank that has a lien on the property and hopes the village won’t need to take the owner to court to address the code violations.

Trustee Mary Bess Phillips asked that the board be notified if the village attorney went forward with legal action.

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