OBSERVER Photo by Rebecca Cuthbert This former home, located on Main Street in Forestville, has been caving in for some time. Town of Hanover officials are working with the Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation to get it demolished and cleared away.

FORESTVILLE — It’s an understatement to say that the house at 33 Main St. in the hamlet of Forestville has seen better days. Reality is that it’s barely standing.

As the OBSERVER has reported, neighbors and residents have complained about the structure for years — it’s not just ugly, it’s dangerous. Pieces of roofing and siding cave in and fall off. Passersby can hear the rickety walls groan in strong wind. Raccoons have been seen going in and out, causing folks to worry about the spread of disease and the safety of their domestic animals.

The writing is on the wall (or in this case, on the window): The place is gross and needs to come down before someone gets hurt.

With the recent dissolution of the village of Forestville, the buck got passed to the town of Hanover, who called in the experts: The Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation and County Legislator George Borrello.

Borrello attended a recent Hanover Town Board meeting to update the supervisor and trustees on the situation, which, despite having to wait another month, is promising.

“(With) 33 Main St. in Forestville, right now, because of the fact that it’s still an encumbered property, it would be cleaner for us to wait now until the end of April when the county will officially close on it,” Borrello said. “That wipes out any other liens that may be out there, basically. We’re only a month out, now. Rather than going through a title search, which is going to cost money and all of those things, we’re better off just waiting for the county to foreclose, and then turn it over to the land bank directly from the county.”

The CCLBC is currently making plans for the next batch of properties it will clean up, and as Executive Director Gina Paradis has confirmed, the Forestville property is on the land bank’s “to-do” list.

“The land bank is waiting for the release of their next round of funds for demolitions, which will happen soon, hopefully,” Borrello said.

County landfill credits, which are allotted to each municipality from year to year, can be donated to land bank projects in order to get rid of blight properties.

“We can talk about landfill credits again from the town so that we can get that (building debris) disposed of properly, but that land bank will cover everything else in the demolition. The only thing not covered under their grant is disposal,” Borrello added.

Town officials have voiced their support of the CCLBC and its mission on several occasions, and will be glad for the day when 33 Main St. in Forestville is a leveled dirt lot with nothing on it but new grass seed and a For Sale sign.

The neighbors will be happy, too.