ROXBURY — Following a brief public hearing Tuesday night on a Main Street building deemed dangerous by a town official, selectmen decided to consult the town attorney for the next step.

At issue is an old camp with the roof caving in and openings in the single-story building, Code Enforcement Officer Robert Folsom Sr. told Selectmen Timothy Derouche and Mike Worthley. Selectman John Sutton was absent.

The building at 316 Main St. is owned by Brenda Carvalho of Lowell, Mass., who did not attend the hearing or send a representative. No abutters attended, either.

Derouche said Carvalho was notified of the hearing by registered and regular mail.

“We’ve asked them to make the building safe and they haven’t complied,” Derouche said.

The hearing’s intent was “to determine if we want to tear it down as a town,” he said. “I think we’ve done everything we can to make them make it a safe building.”

Folsom advised Derouche and Worthley to check with the Maine Municipal Association on the town’s next course of action. Derouche said they are taking baby steps with the process to ensure that it’s done correctly. None of the three selectmen have gone through such a process together as a board.

“I don’t know if we even have a budget to tear down a building or not,” Derouche said.

He said the town asked Folsom to inspect the building, which he did, and determined it to be unsafe. Folsom said it’s unstable and that people have told him they’ve seen children running in and out of it. Additionally, concerns were raised that should the roof take on a snow load this winter, it could collapse on anyone inside.

Folsom said the Fire Department can go on the property and place yellow or red tape around it to mark it as dangerous and prohibit entry. Derouche, however, wanted to check with MMA first.

Selectmen voted to give the landowner 30 days to either fix up the building or remove it. If neither action is taken, the town may choose to remove the building and bill the property owner for the costs.

In the selectmen meeting that followed, Derouche said he attended a Watershed Survey Project meeting recently with the Silver Lake Camp Owners Association and Scott Williams. Williams is the executive director of the Maine Volunteer Lake Monitoring Program of Auburn.

It was decided to conduct a watershed survey for Ellis Pond, also known as Silver Lake and Roxbury Pond.

Derouche said a small algae bloom was observed on the pond in October, “which is an indicator that something might be happening to the lake.”

Other concerns are to figure out where phosphorous is entering the pond and how to resolve erosion issues.

Derouche said the last watershed survey for the pond was completed in 1995. The next Watershed Survey Committee meetings are to be held at 2 p.m. Jan. 24 and 31 at the Roxbury Town Office. Ten people attended the last one and talked with school officials to try to get a science class to help with the survey, currently planned to get underway on May 3, 2014.

Derouche said the committee will likely seek some funding from Roxbury. Wagner Forest Management Ltd. has donated its expertise on mapping with a GIS system for the survey.

In other business, Derouche said it’s been OK’d to pay Swasey Construction of Andover $9,000, the town’s final payment for 2013 Capital Roads Project work.

He also scheduled a workshop for selectmen at 5 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Town Office to seek direction for 2014 work on capital roads and a budget.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com