SALISBURY – Officials in Wicomico County have agreed to move forward with plans to either sell or demolish a dilapidated cottage in Powellville.
On Tuesday, Aug. 7, Wayne Strausburg, the county’s director of administration, came before the Wicomico County Council in an open work session to seek a course of action for a vacant cottage at Adkins Mill Park in Powellville.
“This is the cottage at Adkins Mill Park that had been rented out for quite some time,” he said. “The tenant who had been there has moved out.”
Strausburg said Assistant Parks Superintendent Mark Rickards and General Services Supervisor Pate Matthews recently inspected the park’s cottage and determined it to be in “very poor condition.” Their report included extensive mildew issues, wood rot, rust stains, broken appliances and furniture and more.
“We would take on significant liability if we tried to rent it to another tenant,” Strausburg said. “The value of the home doesn’t warrant repairs, so it had been recommended to us by both Mr. Rickards and Mr. Matthews that we demolish the home.”
Strausburg noted, however, that Councilman Joe Holloway had suggested to County Executive Bob Culver that the county sell the cottage.
“Councilman Joe Holloway had a discussion with Bob and suggested maybe we’ll be able to sell the home to someone who would want to relocate it to another lot,” he said, “which would be perfectly fine with us.”
Holloway said selling the cottage would potentially save the county money and give the community an opportunity to purchase a historic building.
“The reason I made that recommendation is the house has some history there,” he said. “I think it was a store at one time … It would give the community an opportunity to buy and move it if they wanted it.”
Strausburg said the county would consider either selling or demolishing the cottage. “The administration would like to see the county get out of the residential rental business, and this is just one more of those properties that have deteriorated,” he said. “It’s really not inhabitable right now without substantial investments. We would like your permission to declare surplus and probably demolish it or sell it.”
With council consensus, Strausburg said the county would advertise the cottage before moving forward with plans to demolish the building.
“If we find a buyer, we find a buyer,” he said. “If we don’t, we can come back and talk to you about demolishing it. We just need to chart out a course.”