Saugus selectman seeks removal of abandoned gas station

SAUGUS – It was open one day and boarded up and closed the next, and now Selectman Michael Kelleher would like to see the Exxon Station on Main Street gone.Kelleher drives past the abandoned gas station every day and calls the deteriorating structure a blight on the neighborhood.”Neighbors really shouldn’t have to drive by every day and look at this thing,” he said.The building has remained boarded up and generally neglected for months. According to Kelleher the property is jointly owned. Gulf Oil owns the station and Richard Watts owns the land and it is on the market.Kelleher said he is also concerned that the building is not secure. He said it appears that a fence put up to keep people out only partially surrounds the property. He also said the plywood used to board up windows and doors is drying out and beginning to show signs of wear. He said he worries kids will find their way into the place and someone will get hurt.”And I don’t even know about the underground tanks,” he added. “I don’t know what kind of shape they are in.”Kelleher said he has asked Town Manager Andrew Bisignani to pull out all the stops in getting the property owners to address the situation.”I’m asking (Bisignani) to take any and all steps to do something about it,” he said. “It really is a blight on Saugus.”Bisignani didn’t deny the abandoned building is a blot on the landscape but said as long as the property is secure, there is little he can do.Over the summer, Bisignani said he sent crews to clean up the property on two occasions. Workers mowed out of control weeds and picked up trash, both of which would attract vermin.He has also had the area policed to make sure the building was in fact secure and no one was getting in.”It is an eyesore and people do call and complain, but there is not a lot I can do,” Bisignani added. “It is for sale and unless it’s structurally unsound, I’m not sure what we can force the owners to do.”Kelleher said he was a little disappointed by Bisignani’s remarks.”I understand there are rules but there are always other ways to go about things,” he said. “This passive attitude is not going to work. We need to do something.”