LIBERTY — Trustees received another update about an abandoned commercial property that a Logan Arms Drive resident says presents a desolate view of the community.

Township resident Steven Stoyak explained to trustees and residents during the public comment portion of Monday’s trustees meeting that he and Trustee Arnie Clebone had a meeting May 17 with Alpesh Patel, whose name was listed as the owner of a Tibbetts-Wick Road gas station that has been abandoned for more than 30 years.

Stoyak provided a packet and its first page detailed their conversation with Patel about the property as a follow-up letter.

“The second paragraph says the petition, signed by many residents on the street, underscores the urgency of addressing the blighted condition of the property,” Stoyak said. “I thought it was a pretty good conversation we had with him; he seemed very amenable to doing whatever he could to get the situation resolved.”

Patel said he wanted to develop the property, so the gas station would be knocked down anyway, according to Stoyak. However, he did not provide a timeframe.

Stoyak said Clebone had a subsequent conversation with Patel to get a timeframe, but Patel told him he sold his interest in the property to Rakesh Patel — whose name was included in the notice of incorporation with the state. The property’s ownership hasn’t changed on the county auditor’s website, though.

Stoyak said Clebone spoke to Rakesh June 4 and provided a copy of a June 5 follow-up letter, in which Clebone stated it would be “prudent” for him to have answers to the questions laid out in their follow-up to Alpesh.

Stoyak said he and Clebone also met with Weathersfield trustees to learn about their process for handling uninhabitable structures and junk cars within their township.

Trustee Devon Stanley said the last time they discussed the property, its lack of sewer hookup was noted as one of the things holding the property back. He added that they were still waiting on Hotel 30, located off Interstate 80 at exit 229, to be demolished.

Law Director Cherry Poteet said she went to the gas station before the meeting and did not see how it meets the requirements under property maintenance to be demolished.

“It has weeds growing up; there’s nothing structurally wrong with the building,” she said.

Stoyak listed issues with the property that made it a non-inhabitable structure, such as loose shingles, including one that was hanging and flapping until it finally fell off, boarded-up sides and windows and a lack of electricity.

“All those things are in our property maintenance code that made it suitable for a non-inhabitable structure,” he said. “I’m not here to be argumentative; I want to know what we can do to go ahead and alleviate the situation.

Stanley said he joined the county’s council of governments on behalf of the township to be able to demolish properties like the gas station and Hotel 30.

“No sooner than I get a seat on the Council of Governments, the state auditor calls into question the county’s ability to use its resources to demolish buildings in municipalities we have,” Stanley said.