Milford Tackles Blight Head-On

The Milford Board of Aldermen approved a $35,000 allocation this week to clean up a specifically blighted parcel that has long been an eyesore in the community.

City Attorney Jonathan Berchem told the aldermen the $35,000 is to clean up one parcel that has been condemned. Estimates for the cleanup range between $18,000 and $34,000.

Berchem didn’t disclose the address of the parcel but said the city is working with the bank that foreclosed on the property.

“Time is of the essence,” Berchem said.

Berchem said the aldermen needed to approve the money because there previously has not been a fund available to take emergency measures when condemned properties appear.

“This parcel has been the scourge of the neighborhood,” said Mayor Benjamin G. Blake. “Justifiably the neighbors have been upset with the health concerns.”

Blake said the city will recoup its money by placing a lien on the parcel. The money the city recoups will be placed in a dedicated reserve fund that the mayor and finance director can expend in an effort to abate unsafe, unsanitary and blighted properties.

In June, city officials were stunned by what they saw at 19 Ocean Avenue. Inside they found three dogs, 26 cats, and one large bird living in squalor. There was garbage strewn throughout the house including human and animal feces on the walls. The house is in foreclosure.

“This house was in the most horrible condition I’ve ever see,” City Health Director A. Dennis McBride has said. “There were unimaginable odors. There was no running water for months.”

The toilet facilities were filthy and blocked by refuse. The kitchen was not functioning and there were no bathroom fixtures inside the house. In the kitchen there was decayed and moldy food items stored inside a filthy refrigerator.

On the second floor there was garbage, cardboard boxes, plastic bags and empty food containers cluttering all the rooms.

This mass of refuge prevented full entry into these rooms. In one of the front bedrooms there was a makeshift electric cooking device in use among a pile of magazines. The animals were all reported to be in fair condition, officials have said.