No action taken at condemned Marion house

Oct 6, 2020

MARION — At an Oct. 6 Board of Health meeting, Chair D. Edward Hoffer said “no action” has been taken to improve the conditions of 464 Front Street after it was condemned last December. 

The house was condemned when owner Lauren Fisher, 65, was arrested for for two counts of animal cruelty, interfering with a police officer, and resisting arrest on Dec. 11, 2019.

Since then, the house has remained unlivable.

A nine-page affidavit used to obtain the search warrant for the home details the 51 animals that were removed from the property and years of observed maltreatment and neglect of dozens of animals.

At a Sept. 15 board meeting, Marion health agent Dave Flaherty said the house is a perennial problem for him and the Marion Police Department. Together, Flaherty said they’ve been consistently visiting the home every 10 days to two weeks to see if someone is there.

There is an outstanding order to demolish the house in December, a year after the house was condemned, if conditions do not improve. 

In September, Flaherty spoke with Fisher’s lawyer, who said she plans to sell the house as is. 

Fisher pled “not guilty” at an arraignment at Wareham District Court on Dec. 12 last year. 

Hoffer said the board plans to get in touch with Fisher’s lawyer in order to move forward.