By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — Will the saga of the blue-wrapped house at Old Mill Beach ever end?

After months of high hopes and work starting and stopping again, the town’s Blight Prevention Board is now fining the owners $100 a day for failing to comply with orders to position windows where they were approved and cover the blue wrap with siding.

Details of the tally of the fines so far and placing a lien on the property are being worked out with the Town Attorney’s Office, building officials told the Westport Journal on Friday.

The Building Department should have that sorted out before the board once again discusses the Old Mill eyesore at its monthly meeting, 7 p.m. Thursday, online.

The house has been a neighborhood nuisance for several years, since the process began to transform the property, once home to several restaurants, to an upscale, beachside residence. Work went beyond what was permitted. Years of town orders and litigation ensued.

Following a court settlement, progress had been made earlier this year. A zoning permit was issued and the owners had an unallowed chimney and cupola removed, as well as the deconstruction debris.

But getting the blue wrap covered with siding has been vexing for town officials, and the owners.

In May, the blight board instructed the owners to move windows to the correct places and put siding over the blue house wrap within 30 days.

At the June 8 meeting, Building Official Steve Smith reported that hadn’t been done.

“I didn’t see any progress at all,” Smith said.

Gibby Cohen, one of the owners, told the board at the June meeting that he had trouble getting his architect/contractor to do the ordered work.

“They looked at the project and said they just couldn’t get it done,” Cohen said of the contractor. “They resigned from the project … we’re looking for someone to take over.”

Smith said he heard something different.

“I heard it was impossible to negotiate a contract with you,” Smith said. “And that the demands on them were excessive and they pulled out of the project.”

“Absolutely not true,” Cohen said. “I’m happy to have my lawyer come and explain …”

“I’ve had some bad luck on this and I’m bleeding, and I’m down,” Cohen said. “So, there’s nothing I can do.”

There didn’t seem to be any support by the board to extend the time period for compliance.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this,” Cohen said. “I truly am.”

“There’s nobody sorrier than we are,” board Chairman Joseph Strickland told him. “This is not the fun part of our job.”

“We want to look at a sided, windowed building that you can enjoy or sell,” he said. “It’s gotta be finished.”

Thane Grauel, the Westport Journal executive editor, grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Learn more about us here.