Gardiner has deemed a dilapidated former nursing home on Dresden Avenue to be dangerous, initiating a process that could force the owner to fix it up or demolish it.

Neighbors of the former Merrill Memorial Manor at 146 Dresden Ave., which has an adjacent parking lot at 142 Dresden Ave., have said for years the building is a fire hazard and attracts squatters. It has remained vacant since it closed as a nursing home in 1997 and hasn’t been maintained since.

Neighbors have asked the City Council to take action multiple times. Councilors, in response, unanimously approved a motion stating in part “the City Council finds the property at 142 Dresden Avenue is dangerous or a nuisance,” at its May 20 meeting. Elected officials directed city staff to schedule a public hearing and provide notices to the owners that the city plans to consider deeming the building dangerous under state law.

“The building is in terrible shape, so we’re looking forward to doing something to address it,” Mayor Patricia Hart said after neighbors asked, again, at theMay 20 meeting that the city take action.

Robert Monniere, who lives with his wife at 120 Dresden Ave., said he appreciated councilors voting to pursue the dangerous buildings process, and said it’s an ongoing yearslong issue. He cited a previous Kennebec Journal story that noted its owner, Adam Mack, has had a previous conflict with a Maine municipality regarding a property he owned in Wilton.

“I’d ask the council to keep this as a priority project, to not let it slip by the wayside. I think it’s quite clear, given the background of the property owner, that the individual, shall we say, has been less than candid with the city, and I don’t believe deserves a second chance at this point.”

The city’s code enforcement officer, Kris McNeill, said Mack continues to insist he’s going to renovate the building to create several apartments, but has failed to take action or seek city permits for any such work.

McNeill said the building’s problems include holes in the roof; trim and siding falling off; broken windows that are mostly boarded up; broken structural support beams; and a large crumbling brick chimney that has partially collapsed. The holes in the roof have allowed water to infiltrate the structure, potentially causing rot.

McNeill said with the council voting to initiate the dangerous buildings process, he will schedule a public hearing, which the city’s attorney advised should be devoted entirely to the issue. At the hearing, councilors would hear evidence and decide whether to deem the building dangerous.

Hart said the hearing will likely be in July.

If the building is deemed dangerous, Mack could be required to fix it up and, if he doesn’t, to demolish it. If he doesn’t do either, the city could demolish the building, and seek the cost of demolition from the owner.

City tax records indicate the building is owned by RTM Gardiner Limited Liability Corporation. McNeill said that entity, and others that have owned the property, is owned by Mack, a former state legislator from southern Maine.

Helen Stevens, who with her husband, Gordon, lives next door, said squatters have gotten into the building , creating a fire hazard in the residential neighborhood surrounded by woods.

“This house is an abandoned building, nobody lives there, so who is going to call the fire department at 2 a.m. if some squatter has a fire in there?” Stevens said. “If you combine these kind of issues, it’s a real hazard to the neighborhood to have people squatting in it, teenagers looking for a place to meet. It has been ongoing since 2000 and the owner has been unresponsive.”

RTM, Mack’s limited liability company, bought the building in 2009 for $40,000. It’s currently appraised for property tax purposes at $83,700.

Under state statute, to declare a building to be a nuisance or dangerous, municipal or county officials “must find that the building is structurally unsafe, unstable or unsanitary; constitutes a fire hazard; is unsuitable or improper for the use or occupancy to which it is put; constitutes a hazard to health or safety because of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, obsolescence or abandonment; or is otherwise dangerous to life or property.”