Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton A litany of properties throughout the city are on the radar of both city staff and the Blighted Property Review Committee including this structure at 128 Water St.

Two prominent Water Street properties were discussed during Thursday’s City of Warren Blighted Property Review Committee meeting.

One was before the committee for a blight declaration — 104 Water St. — while a second, 128 Water St., will be as soon as next month.

Scott Taylor, the city’s zoning and ordinance officer, said both of the owners of 128 Water St., a former church and home of the Warren Players Club, have passed away.

“This property is deteriorating,” he said. “It’s actually a pretty nice building.”

Taylor told the committee he identified a surviving daughter that lives out of state and that he would attempt to contact her “before we have to go with the full (blight) process on it.”

He outlined several deficiencies with the ornate structure.

The roof is “getting in poor condition” and there are cornices that are “rotted out.”

When he visited the property a neighbor asked about a cupola that was once on the structure.

“I don’t know” where it went, he said, whether it was “legitimately taken down” or “ended up in the” Conewango Creek.

Taylor told the committee that the last time he was in the building “there were pathways. It was full” and said he notified the police and fire department about that condition should they need to respond to the structure for any reason.

“I would love to see this property be rehabilitated,” he said. “What it could be used for? I don’t know.”

Shifting to 104 Water St, Taylor said that “property has been an issue for quite a few years.”

He told the committee it has an owner that does not live in the country, was posted in 2007 and declared uninhabitable. However, he said he had a conversation with the owner, who purchased the property out of a tax sale, just a couple days ago.

The new owner, he said, had the intent of rehabbing three existing upstairs apartments and renovating the first floor, an old Ford showroom, for a place to live when he is in town.

“Obviously COVID hit (and) people’s plans change,” Taylor told the committee. “There are a couple points of concern,” specifically deterioration that could result in third flood bricks falling to the sidewalk.

He said he was encouraged to have “progress on this property” and contact with the owner.

“Whether it’s going to go anywhere,” he said, “I can’t honestly tell you.”

Committee vice-chair Denise Whipp asked that the owner participate in a future meeting because there are “so many questions” unanswered. She said that with inflation the “costs of supplies are unlikely to ever go back down.”

The committee tabled a blight declaration for two months with the goal of having the owner participate in the April meeting.