Town ponders slapping local contractor with hefty fines
Published on August 24th, 2005
The town's Board of Selectmen unanimously directed Town Administrator Ron Florino to assess any potential building permit fines against a Lynnfield contractor who purportedly destroyed a Hanford resident's home.
According to 26 Hanford Road resident Carol McNelley, Lynnfield contractor Michael Nardone, of 30 Edwards Drive, destroyed her home last summer as he jacked up the rear of her single-family dwelling.
Specifically, McNelley alleged that the contractor performed shoddy work that led to the home twice slipping off the jacks that supported it within a three day period - causing major structural damage to the house that resulted in former Building Inspector Gene Argiro declaring the home unsafe for human habitation.
And while McNelley successfully lobbied the State's Board of Building Regulations and Standards to pull Nardone's contractor supervisor's license, the Stoneham resident alleged that local officials were doing nothing to enforce the order.
"We have other Stoneham residents who have been placed in the same predicament as me," said McNelley, claiming Nardone continued to work on several home improvement projects in the town.
"I have made this aware to the Building Inspector. I have made this aware to the Town Administrator. And I've gotten the runaround. All I ask is that the state's laws be followed by the appropriate town authorities," the longtime town resident added.
Referring to two building permits taken out in McNelley's neighborhood where Nardone was purportedly doing construction work, Selectmen Chair Bob Sweeney questioned whether the contractor could legally continue the jobs.
Answering the chairman, Town Administrator Ron Florino explained that the two homeowners had either hired another general contractor to finish up the renovations - allowing Nardone to work as a subcontractor - or pulled the permits under their own name, assuming all the liability for any problematic work.
According to Florino, those two cases constituted a legal loophole in which the Lynnfield contractor could continue to work, regardless of the state's order that his license be suspended and that Nardone cease and desist all current jobs.
"The state building board, when they revoked his license, prohibited him from pulling a permit. But if a homeowner pulls the permit, they can have whoever they want, whether they're licensed or not?" asked Sweeney.
"[The state's building inspector] told me it's out of the local building inspector's hands. And if something does happen, it has to be taken up by the state building inspector," Florino responded.
However, according to McNelley, the town could easily stop the contractor from pulling future permits by imposing fines on him for work done without a permit: one of the primary reasons town officials themselves requested that Nardone's license be pulled at the state hearing.
Specifically, McNelley estimated that the Lynnfield resident owed the town at least $200,000 for work performed without a permit.
"Once those fines have been issued, he can't be issued any more permits. Is that why we're not going for those fines?" asked McNelley.
"That sum of money could add up to $200,000 owed to the Town of Stoneham by one contractor. You can bill the Town of Stoneham's residents $150 for a trash fee, but you don't have time to bill a contractor who's destroying people's homes?" the Hanford Road resident asked.
Agreeing with McNelley, Selectman Cosmo Ciccarello motioned that the board direct Florino to ensure those fines were charged.
"I feel very strongly about this. I think it's appropriate and in the past the Building Inspector has filed double and triple fees. And if he doesn't pay it, then we'll take him to court," Ciccarello said.
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