Times Telegram
When a February 2017 house fire in the Otsego County village of Cherry Valley killed the elderly homeowner, the village was left to deal not only with the tragic loss of life, but with the burned-out property that remained.
The owner did not have fire or homeowner’s insurance on the house and family members lacked the resources to clean up the property. The owner did not leave a will and the estate went into probate. That left a burned-out house in the heart of the village. Local officials saw it as a health and safety hazard, but since the village did not own it, there seemed to be no way to clean up the property.
Times Telegram
Only one tenant remains at the Glen Ridge Motel on Route 5 in East Herkimer, and he’s planning to leave as soon as he can secure an apartment and find help to make the move.
Lee Holtz Jr. uses a wheelchair to get around, and he lives there with his dog, Deogee. Both situations have complicated the process of finding an accessible apartment so he can leave the motel complex, which has been condemned due to multiple codes violations.
The facility has not been used as a traditional motel in years. Instead, people rented rooms by the week or the month and some stayed for years. A fire last year in the house that served as an office for the complex left the interior burned out, according to Herkimer Town Councilman Vito Carbone, who has been working with Herkimer Town Codes Officer Ken Collis to deal with codes issues and has been helping tenants find places to live.