Chester boards up ‘health hazard’ Hennessey house

By Shawn Cunningham
© Telegraph Publishing LLC

On Tuesday afternoon, employees of the Town of Chester boarded up the house at 138 Cummings Road to keep people from staying in the house that the town says has no running water or working septic and is surrounded by a junk yard containing hazardous materials.

The house belongs to John Hennessey and has a long history as a neighborhood nuisance. Earlier this month, the Chester Select Board held a hearing about issuing a health order to ban occupancy there until a number of cleanup and repair orders are satisfied.

At the hearing, Town Manager Julie Hance explained that the next step would be to go to Superior Court to seek an injunction that would empower the town to board up the structure.

In the meantime though, Hance said that Hennessey — who currently lives in Crescent Manor Nursing and Rehab — sent a notarized letter authorizing the town to secure the house from trespassers.

In addition to the plywood over several doors and windows, the town placed concrete jersey barriers in the driveway.

Rain falling on the site in the late afternoon ran down the driveway and into an adjacent stream where absorbent pollution containment booms have been placed. The town will be allowing a period of time – set by state statute – to bring the property into compliance before going to the governor’s office to request condemnation of place.