Mass. town approves plan to shame property owners

[March 02, 2011]  WEBSTER, Mass. (AP) -- The health board in a Massachusetts town has approved a plan to shame owners of rundown buildings into fixing and securing their properties.

The plan approved Monday by the Webster board allows the town to place 4-by-8-foot signs on the sides of dilapidated buildings with the owner's names, address and telephone number. Selectman Mark Dowgiewicz says it costs up to $9,000 per year for police responses and other expenses to deal with squatters, vandals and other problems. Building Inspector Theodore Tetreault tells The Telegram & Gazette of Worcester (WUH'-stur) that building owners have ignored requests from the town to secure vacant properties. Webster is a town of about 16,000 nearly 60 miles southwest of Boston. ___ Information from: Telegram & Gazette, http://www.telegram.com/ [Associated Press] Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.