Billerica Select Board Declares Canterbury Street Home a Public Safety Hazard

BILLERICA — October 17, 2022 — Billerica Select Board unanimously declares a collapsed Canterbury Street house a public nuisance, advancing a demolition process. The board voted 5-0 Monday to formally declare the property at 21 Canterbury Street a danger to public health and public safety, authorizing Building Commissioner Mark Lumia to proceed under MGL Chapter 143 toward demolition after the structure partially collapsed in August. The board also heard from the Frontline Initiative, a regional behavioral health co-response program, which reported $1.686 million in estimated savings to Billerica since 2018 through 300 emergency room diversions and 196 criminal custody diversions — and disclosed for the first time it was seeking municipal funding after a three-year DOJ grant expired in September. The board directed Town Manager John Curran to send a "strongly worded" letter to the Billerica Mall's ownership after Select Board Member Brendan Borroughs identified a third silt discharge event at the redevelopment site and reported that a concrete pumping mishap sent material through a ceiling onto store merchandise inside the occupied building.