Groton — A Groton City resident has filed blight complaints about two properties the city owns or leases, effectively going after the city under its own blight ordinance.     

Michael Boucher, of Hillside Avenue, filed the complaints on March 24 with the City of Groton Zoning and Building Department.

The first complaint states that the historic Mother Bailey House at 108 Thames St., which the city owns, is “unsafe, dilapidated, poses a serious danger to the safety of community" and has not been adequately maintained.”

The complaint also describes damaged siding, a structurally faulty foundation and physical hazards.

The second complaint states that the former Colonel Ledyard Elementary School at 120 West St., which the city leases from the town, has “boarded up windows, broken windows with glass exposed, graffiti and construction material stored on the front basketball court area.” 

Since the town owns the former school and the city leases it, both will be served with the complaint, Carlton Smith, city building and zoning official, told the City Council on Monday.

The city is responsible for property maintenance and all structural and non-structural repairs, according to the terms of the lease.

After receiving the written notification, the city or owner would have five days to reply with a timetable for fixing the problems, Smith said.

If the city couldn't do this, his office would issue an infraction, city police would serve it and the matter would be turned over to a prosecutor and the courts, Smith said.

It's unclear whether the city has been formally notified in writing.

On Tuesday, City Mayor Marian Galbraith asked town councilors if they want the former Colonel Ledyard School back.

The city planned to use the building for a combination of public offices, community space and recreation programs, she said. But the project was stalled after Pfizer Inc. demolished its former research headquarters and the city’s grand list tumbled.

"I'm shocked that they're going to totally give it up," Boucher said of the school. "I did not expect that."  

The city put a new roof on the school and he hoped they'd fix the windows, make the building presentable and mothball it until the city has money to complete the work.

"At least save their investment," he said.

The city can’t demolish or sell the former school because it doesn't own the building, Galbraith said.

She asked the Town Council if it would be interested in jointly using the building for recreation programs.

Town councilors asked if they could tour it.

“It’s not pretty,” Galbraith said.

The Mother Bailey House is a separate issue. The city had a plan to stabilize it, but taxpayers rejected it.

On Feb. 16, a freeman's meeting overwhelmingly denied a request to use $800,000 in unspent bond money on three projects, including the Mother Bailey House.

The city is assembling a committee of people from all sides of the issue to decide what should happen to the house.

Last week, the city signed a $10,600 contract with CME Associates Inc. to prepare a bid request to stabilize the house and to administer the repair contract if one goes forward.

The city has a few options if it wants to fix the house. It could go back to taxpayers again and ask to spend the bond money.

The City Council could also pull money from the contingency fund or a separate capital fund for one-time projects, Galbraith said.

“You have the absolute authority to do that,” she told councilors.

If the city can't come up with a plan, fines could be imposed on the city itself.

Groton City’s blight ordinance allows the city to fine property owners $100 per day if their homes become blighted and they fail to clean the properties after being notified in writing.

Those who "willfully" violate the ordinance can face criminal penalties of up to $250 a day.

“Technically the city can’t sue itself, right?” Deputy Mayor Keith Hedrick asked Smith on Monday.

Smith said the city would be required to submit a plan to fix the blight, not to get it all done in five days.

City Councilor Lawrence Gerrish said the property owners of the Mother Bailey House are multiple — essentially all city residents — so all would be liable for the problem just as residents decide what happens to the property.

But Mayor Galbraith said if the city were found liable by a court, fines would be levied against the city itself, though paid by taxpayers.

City Councilor Andrew Ilvento said the complaint seems outrageous to him.

“Now as a council, we no longer have any authority to say yes or no,” he said. “We have to spend the money. Our ability to judge whether or not we think this is a project of worth or not is now gone.”

City Councilor Stephen Sheffield said the city would have had to fix the Mother Bailey house whether it was forced to or not. 

"The work's going to have to be done, in my opinion, even if we want to sell it," he said.

If the city demolished the house that would cost money, too, he added.

Boucher said house is too expensive to fix and the city should give it away.

But he said the City Council is still free to make any decision it wants, and it could give itself a six-month timetable if the zoning officer agreed.

"In my mind there's no excuse," Boucher said. "It's poor stewardship of the property. So I have no regrets. Now it's out in the open and it forces the issue."

d.straszheim@theday.com