By: Cynthia Williamson
LAMBERTVILLE — The city’s construction official was ready to take the owner of the old Lambertville High School, Merrick Wilson, to task in municipal court May 9 for failing to erect a fence around his property on Washington Street.
But much to the dismay of city officials, Municipal Court Judge Jeffrey Martin wasn’t able to take any action against the landowner because he received notice of the order one day before the April 19 deadline he was given for installing the fence.
“This court was ready to levy some heavy fines,” city attorney Philip Faherty III advised the City Council Monday. Mr. Faherty also is the municipal prosecutor.
The order to erect a fence at least 10-feet high and pay an initial $500 fine for failing to secure the property was handed down by the Hunterdon County Construction Board of Appeals on March 20. But that notice never reached Mr. Wilson until April 18, Mr. Faherty explained.
The complaint also was seeking to collect $500 for each week Mr. Wilson failed to install the fence.
“How was it that a decision on March 20 never came until April 18?” asked Mayor David Del Vecchio.
“The (Hunterdon County Construction Board of Appeals) hadn’t mailed it,” City Clerk Mary Elizabeth Sheppard responded.
As a result, the judge gave Mr. Wilson until Tuesday to appeal the complaint in municipal court, Mr. Faherty lamented. Monday, he said, the Pennington-based developer had not yet filed an appeal.
The city has been at wits end trying to get Mr. Wilson to secure his property that has been a popular hangout for teens due to its remote location high on a hill overlooking Lambertville.
Fire Chief Ronald Tillett Jr., who also serves on the county board, has long expressed concern about the three-story building that was gutted by a fire in 1992 and recently told city officials the structure is in “imminent danger of collapse.”
Mr. Tillett did not attend Monday’s council session but his father, Ronald Tillett Sr., who also serves on the county board, said it has a secretary but was unable to provide the city with a reason why there was such a delay in mailing the notice.
Mr. White cited the old high school owner in January for failing to board up the building and imposed a $500 fine. Mr. Wilson appealed it to the county board and lost. The board gave Mr. Wilson until April 19 to erect a fence around the property and upheld the $500 fine.
Mr. Wilson has given Lambertville police permission to arrest and prosecute trespassers, however, Police Director Bruce Cocuzza has since learned that the department is powerless to enforce the law unless the owner erects no-trespassing signs. As of Monday, that hadn’t been done, Mr. Cocuzza said.
