County takes over old Skinner's

12/8/2022

By Patsy Nicosia

After months of complaints from neighbor Dave Jeremenko, the old Skinner building on Route 30, Middleburgh, is in Schoharie County’s hands.
Once DEC signs off on the project, Department of Public Works Commissioner Dan Crandell said Tuesday, it could even be sold.
Back in July, Mr. Jeremenko asked the Town of Middleburgh to do something about the old Skinner’s building, which he said was becoming a haunt for the homeless and drug dealers.
Because the building is on private property, Supervisor Wes Laraway said the town’s hands were tied.
But after meeting with County Attorney Mike West, Mr. Laraway was able to get the county to foreclose on the building because of unpaid taxes and take it over.
Mr. Crandell said DPW cleared more than 30 trees from the site and hauled away 54 tires; all entry points to the building have been boarded up.
DEC testing for possible contamination outside the building came back “clean,” Mr. Crandell said; they’ll be coming back to test the inside.
“If it gets a clean bill of health, we’re free to sell it,” he said. “If not, there are some things we can do.”
Either way, he said, there are already some people interested in the site.