WHITE LAKE — The Bethel Town Board held four public hearings Wednesday night on unsafe structures, but only one drew a property owner who appeared to dispute the town’s findings.

The board voted to move forward with seeking bids for the removal of an unsafe structure at 313 Cohen & Cohen Road after Joshua Harris, who identified himself as the owner of the property, challenged the town’s authority to inspect the building and said the structure could be repaired and threatened legal action.

“You have no legal right to send an engineer on the property without contacting me,” Harris told the board.

Harris said the town’s engineer had no right to enter the building and claimed a lock had been broken to access the property. He also warned the board that he intended to take legal action. When asked whether the building department had a right to enter the property, Town Supervisor Daniel Sturm said he believes town officials acted within the bounds of the law but declined to go into further detail citing possible litigation. 

“I’m going to sue you, you know this,” Harris said.

Sturm said the town had followed its process for unsafe structures and had notified Harris of the proceedings. He said the town has been dealing with the property since 2010 and has records from the Building Department and a town engineer indicating the structure is unsafe.

“We have every right in the world for an unsafe structure to send an engineer,” Sturm said during the hearing.

Harris disputed the town’s conclusion and said he has an engineer who believes the building is structurally sound, except for roof damage caused by a storm.

“The building is actually strong,” Harris said. “The only thing we have to do is secure it.”

During the hearing, Harris also alleged that Jewish buyers had attempted to purchase the property and claimed town officials had given them his contact information.

“The Jewish people want to buy the property,” Harris said. “They send an appraiser, and they tricked me that they’re gonna call the town board to force me to sell the property.”

Harris later added, “I’m not selling ... They’re lowballing me.”

Harris did not present evidence supporting those allegations during the hearing.

After the public hearing was closed, Sturm recommended that the town continue its enforcement process by sending the project out for bids for removal. He said Harris could still work with the Building Department if he can show the structure can be made safe.

“If he gets an engineer that says this is fixable, then we could have a discussion with [his] engineer, our engineer and our Building Department,” Sturm said after the meeting.

The board voted to proceed with seeking bids for the work.