Trafford taxpayers could be on the hook for cost of razing former Mellon Bank building

Trafford taxpayers may have to pay for demolition of the dilapidated and condemned former Mellon Bank building, which could cost between $135,000 to $165,000, officials said.

The borough is hoping to come to an agreement with the building’s owner, Lanalex Cloyd Inc. of Export, to share the costs of razing the structure at 501 Cavitt Ave., solicitor Craig Alexander told a group of about 40 residents during a public hearing this week.

Alexander said he hopes to work on a creative cost-sharing agreement through Westmoreland County Judge Harry F. Smail Jr., who ordered the borough to demolish the building on Oct. 16 after Lanalex Cloyd failed to do so.

Residents attending the hearing complained that tax money should not used to pay for the demolition, but Alexander said it has to be done.

“This council is getting more and more concerned the building could collapse on its own,” Alexander said. “We believe it was a life or death matter.”

Drone photos showed the the roof and chimney have collapsed into the structure and bricks have fallen from the parapet.

Trafford sought money from state and local sources, but has not been able to tap a funding source, said Ashley Stack, borough manager. She proposed borrowing from the town’s sewage fund.

The borough may not be able to get Lanalex Cloyd owner Frank Yeager to pay any demolition costs, said his attorney, James Creenan.

He said court has ordered the borough take down the building and “the ball’s in their court. … Their (Trafford) own conduct has led to this.”

The borough has been entangled for more than a year in a legal battle with Yeager, of Export, who maintains the borough delayed giving him a demolition permit until June. He started demolition, then halted it this fall.

“One of the two of us has to bring that building down,” Alexander said.

The building Yeager purchased in 2013 served as an inn in 1904, then was home to several banks from the 1920s until the 1990s.

Officials expressed concerns that someone could get hit by a falling brick.

Coleen Hunter of Trafford said she was walking along the building in August when a brick fell, narrowly missing her.

Brandon Lacina, owner of Digital Trafford, a nearby shop, also said the bricks are falling.

“We’ve heard bricks coming down in the interior of the structure,” Lacina said.