West Lebanon eyesore set for demolition

The house at 179 Champion St. will be coming down soon. (Lebanon Voice file photo)

WEST LEBANON - The eyesore that resulted from a June arson fire on the border of Lebanon and Milton is expected to be removed this fall as selectmen have accepted a bid to raze the building and remove the debris.
Marsters Excavation LLC of New Durham, N.H., was awarded the job at a cost of $5,350.
Preliminary indications are that there is no hazardous waste on site, and selectmen are hopeful the removal can be completed before hard winter sets in.
The owner of the house, Kalani McDaniel, of St. Petersburg, Fla., has made it known she is unable to pay for its removal, so selectmen will be taking steps to recover the money from her in the future.
For now it is a safety issue, so removal of the house at 147 Champion St. comes first, indicated Lebanon Selectman Ben Thompson.

Tommy Ellis

Meanwhile, the man arrested in the arson, Tommy Ellis, 27, of Beach Ridge Road, Berwick, Maine, who lived for a time in Milton, is scheduled to appear in York County Superior Court later this month to face the arson charge.
The house is alleged to have been used as a marijuana growing factory, but Maine DEA agents were only able to secure a small number of plants that could have been used as evidence, reducing any possible charges that could be filed to a misdemeanor level.
So far no drug arrests have been made in the case, and none are anticipated.
Ellis was arrested Aug. 10 by Epping Police on a fugitive from justice warrant and has been in jail after waiving extradition to Maine several days later.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office has indicated that Ellis and the person who rented the house knew each other, but no motive has even been released.
Ellis remains in Alfred County Jail today on $50,000 cash bail.
Arson in the state of Maine is a Class A felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
The former graffiti house, strewn for decades with the political rhetoric of the late Clarence "Clabby" Tanner of Lebanon who formerly lived there, was sold to the new owners a couple of years ago.
The small, former clapboard house had been sided in recent years and appeared to have been kept tidy.