Town to Secure Derelict House and Pool

Southampton Town officials are taking action to clean up a blighted south-of-the-highway property in Bridgehampton that neighbors claim has been abandoned for eight years and left to attract mosquitos, rats, raccoons, and squatters.

The town board authorized the building, fire prevention, and code enforcement departments to fix unsafe and dangerous conditions at 65 Audubon Avenue, formerly known as Hildreth Avenue, at its meeting on Aug. 9.

Officials can take “whatever steps are necessary” to fix so-called “health and safety issues” on the property, which is reportedly in foreclosure. They include an open, collapsing vinyl swimming pool with stagnant water, a missing pool-fence gate, and a hole in the side of the house where a tree fell in, according to Richard Harris of the town attorney’s office. At least one dog is reported to have fallen into the pool; it was found and rescued after a child was thought to have fallen in.

Overgrown vegetation, allegedly five feet high and covering part of the house, has made it impossible for fire marshals to even get to the pool to fence it off. With the town board’s blessing, officials can now cut back the growth, secure the pool fence, and drain and/or treat the pool to prevent mosquito larvae from hatching.

The possibility that mosquitoes have been breeding in the stagnant water has been a major concern for neighbors. During a hearing on July 26, Jane Comfort, whose property abuts 65 Audubon Avenue, called the pool a “giant petri dish of larvae and mosquitos.” One neighbor she knows calls vector control every summer because swarms go through the neighborhood, she said.

The house will not be demolished, as town officials believe it can be salvaged. Although the tree that fell through the house in a storm last year has been removed, “a very large, gaping hole” remains, John Rankin, a fire marshal, told the board. The hole will now be covered with a tarp.

Sandy Taylor, who lives across the street, said there had been squatters in the house. “It’s not only the pool that’s unsafe, the house is unsafe, and it makes the neighborhood unsafe,” she told the board.

Ms. Comfort said televisions have been ripped off the walls and the refrigerator and dishwasher have “walked out the door.”

Any expenses incurred by the town will be added to the property owner’s tax bill. Taxes have not been paid, Mr. Harris told the board. Finding the owner of record, Vekrum Kaushik of Manhattan, who used to own the Star Room in Wainscott, also now abandoned, has proven difficult, he said. Mr. Harris said the town attorney’s office has been unable to serve him with a notice of violation from the fire marshal’s office or send him certified mailings about the July 26 public hearing or one held on Aug. 9. A process server was also unable to find him. The mortgage lender on record has denied any responsibility for the property.

Councilman Stan Glinka, who is a banker, offered to help the town attorney’s office trace the mortgage and find the responsible parties. Reached on Tuesday, Mr. Glinka said he was “still digging,” and confirmed that foreclosure is pending. The July hearing was tabled for one last-ditch effort to notify Mr. Kaushik, who did not appear at last week’s hearing either.

Emergency repairs on the house will be completed in a few weeks, Mr. Harris said Tuesday.