by Frank Schroth

At last Tuesday’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen members Hurley and Conlon voted to give Carrick Realty, owners of the Hendries building, until yesterday to work with the town’s retained counsel and building inspector to come to agreement on plan for taking down the Hendries building. This was granted with the understanding that “substantial” progress would be made on the issue. Believing this to be the case, yesterday afternoon they granted another extension. This one until this coming Thursday. At that time they expect to sign an agreement that will set May 28th as a deadline for submission of a complete demolition permit from Carrick for their portion of the building.

At their meeting late yesterday afternoon the selectmen reviewed a draft of the agreement. A key concern of Carrick’s was any future liability the town might cite during the demolition. There is agreement by both parties to hold the other harmless. In addition, they will “draw a line in the sand” as of the signing of the agreement whereby any pre-exisitng legal actions will be withdrawn. The town has issued two demo orders both of which have been appealed by Carrick. Those would go away. Conlon and Hurley were satisfied that the draft was very close and that the few tweaks and changes could be made and the agreement signed this Thursday. Member Keohane dissented and said he would not sign the agreement and said he would favor issuing another demolition order under Mass General Law 39. He said that they (the town) had been this close before and it fell apart. The vote was 2-1 to approve the extension. The board meets  this Thursday.