Contractor picked to demolish East Williston home

Richard Tedesco

The East Williston Village Board voted unanimously last Wednesday night to conditionally accept a bid from J. Galvin Construction to demolish a dilapidated house at 8 Sumter Ave. that has been a constant source of complaints by neighbors.

The $28,500 bid to demolish the house was the lowest of two bids received. 

Acceptance of the bid at last Wednesday’s village board meeting is conditioned on the board’s receipt of written specifications that the demolition would include removal of asbestos and other hazardous materials from the house.

If those specifications are not included in the low bid, the board’s vote included an option to accept the demolition bid from Amport Design & Construction of Garden City Park submitted for $61,65.

“They seem to be comparable at this point, based on the work that’s being done,” Village of East Williston Mayor David Tanner told a meeting room crowded with neighbors of the Sumter Avenue house.

Tanner said the village board could issue a bond to cover the cost of the demolition.

“I do think it’s been a big expenditure in time, emotion and effort,” said Williston Park Deputy Mayor Bonnie Parente. “We do need to move forward on this now.”

At the suggestion of village attorney Jeffrey Blinkoff, the village board also unanimously voted to notify the house’s owner, John Muzio, that he will have 30 days to remove any personal property from the structure after the demolition agreement is signed with the contractor. The cost of the demolition will be passed on to the house owner, Blinkoff said.

At Blinkoff’s suggestion, the board also stipulated that any money Muzio owes the village will be transferred to the village tax rolls as liens against the property. 

Blinkoff said he doubted that Muzio would come across with approximately $65,224 he will owe the village, including the $28,500 cost of demolition.

“We will give notice to the homeowners and demand that they pay. I assume they will not do so and that’s when we would pursue other measures,” Blinkoff said.

He said those other measures could include returning to court to attempt to force Muzio to pay what he owes.

Muzio said he would go to court to oppose the demolition. 

“Looks like I’m going to have to get an order to show cause. They’re overstepping their bounds,” said Muzio after being informed of the board’s decision.

“They’re doing this without a court order. They’re overusing their court order. That court order says nothing about taking the house down,” Muzio said. “Nobody did a proper inspection.”

Tanner said the village board recently learned that there is a foreclosure action pending against the house.

Muzio said he was “not aware” of any foreclosure action.   

In a ruling issued last year after a protracted court battle, a Nassau Supreme Court judge gave the village permission to either demolish or refurbish Muzio’s house. 

The board decided to await the outcome of an application to the village Planning Board for a subdivision of the property from BNL Construction, which according to BNL officials had a contract to purchase the property from Muzio conditioned on the planning board’s approval. But the subdivision application was denied by the planning board.

The board had voted to accept a bid in January to demolish the house for $30,000 from Williston Park-based Colonial Crafters. 

But the board held its action in abeyance, Blinkoff said, pending the planning board’s decision 

Colonial Crafters also bid $320,000 to restore the house in January when the project was first put out to bid. The Colonial Crafters bid expired after six months, prompting the board to again seek bids to demolish or refurbish the house last month. 

Neither of the current bidders submitted a bid to refurbish the structure.

The board’s decision to move ahead with demolishing the house at 8 Sumter House may be the final chapter of a running dispute with Muzio that spans several years. 

In 2009, the village board held discussions with Muzio, asking him to make necessary repairs to the house, which was then considered a dangerous structure. 

But then Village of East Williston Park Deputy Mayor James Daw Jr., said the discussions were unsuccessful, leading to the village board’s first legal confrontation with Muzio.

“After we tried to work with him, he sued us and half of Nassau County,” Daw said at last week’s meeting.

During the meeting, village Treasurer Michael Delury said the money Muzio currently owes the village includes $20,459.53 in unpaid village taxes and water service fees, $10,860 in engineering fees from various surveys over the last several years to determine the structure’s viability, $3,285 to maintain the property and remove the raccoons with traps and $2,119.77 in legal fees.

Blinkoff said there are also liens against the property of $279,440 resulting from a judgment obtained by a private party and a tax lien of $14,000 owed to another municipality.

Parente said village officials have no information about the judgment related to the private party. Village officials said they also do not know to which municipality the tax lien is owed. 

In response to a question from a resident, Blinkoff said village code allows the village to demolish or refurbish structures determined to be dangerous and said the village board had voted to demolish the house in 2009 before Muzio sued the village to stop it.

Dawson said the village had demolished a house on Benjiefield Drive in 1994 because it was structurally unsound.

“One of our biggest priorities was the safety of our residents,” said village Trustee Christopher Siciliano on the board’s decision on the home at 8 Sumter Ave.

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