Saugus installs fence around troubled properties

SAUGUS – The four properties poised above a deteriorating retaining wall along Hitchings Hill Road are marginally safer since a six-foot fence has been installed.The fence stretches along the front of all four properties and disappears down the steep slopes of either side. Padlocks have been added to the gate along with no trespassing signs in an attempt to keep out unwanted visitors.Town Manager Andrew Bisignani agreed Wednesday to install the fence after a visit from two state inspectors. Bisignani said the inspectors from the Department of Public Safety urged the town to raise the fence despite concerns regarding liability.Selectman Stephen Horlick asked the town to put a fence up several weeks ago. He said he was concerned that vandals or teens would get into the homes that had been deemed unsafe and cause further damage or hurt themselves.A work stoppage was ordered on the properties after a 30-foot section of a retaining wall that sits just below the homes gave way sending rocks, dirt and debris tumbling down the steep slope toward the homes on Hesper Street. That incident took place in July and left at least two of the homes with cracks in the foundations and left all four homes in an unfinished state.While the properties have been wrapped in police caution tape, Horlick, along with several residents in the area, noted that the tape wasn’t much of a deterrent to keep people out of the homes.Town Counsel John Vasapolli, however, has advised all along that if the town took any steps toward rectifying the situation it would open itself up to liability.After meeting with residents from both Hesper Street and Hitchings Hill Road Tuesday and state inspectors Wednesday, Bisignani said the time to worry about liability has passed.He also said he was told by the state that a community has never been found liable for trying to protect its residents.Bisignani said the fence cost approximately $6,200. The town will also lay out several thousand dollars to install a berm to direct water runoff away from the properties and into a catch basin thus slowing down further deterioration of the wall. The town will also try and recoup the expenditures.The town already spent about $15,000 on the geotechnical study to show the wall and the properties are unstable. Bisignani said although the homes are in foreclosure the town would put a lien on them.When a developer might step in and clean up the properties and repair or remove the wall is anyone’s guess. Vasapolli said he suspected it could be months but residents fear it could be years.”I would think they would move fast because they’d want to mitigate their loss,” Vasapolli said regarding the mortgage company. “It’s got to be at about $2 million.”