The city of New London has placed a lien on the collapsed First Congregational Church due to unpaid bills.
Pastor James Lavesque, who owns the church, had promised to repay the city for demolition costs. But he has instead told lawyers to cite issues with an insurance company and a lapsed policy.
New London Mayor Mike Passero said when the church collapsed, the city had to act.
“We acted under our public safety emergency powers to hire the demolition crew, to hire the environmental testing and all of the public safety response units in the city,” Passero said. “That was all due to the public emergency. And we were very fortunate dealing with a public emergency that was strictly a collapsed building; there was nobody inside the building at the time of the collapse, then it would have been a mass casualty.”
Demolition costs have amounted to $250,000.
“Under the law, we only have a certain amount of time to place a lien on the property, 30 days, a very short window,” Passero said. “So, we explained to them our intentions, which was, when we got the bills, to share them with the church, but at the same time, we were going to file the lien, you know, just as a matter of course. So, it’s not an aggressive or hostile move. We just need to protect the taxpayer’s interests.”
WSHU reached out to both Levesque and the law firm for comment but has received no response.
