Politics & Government

Town Wants "Call Murf" Trailer Removed Before Demolition

Real estate company will reportedly comply and move trailer office.

The Town of Babylon wants the trailer housing the "Call Murf" real estate office removed from the property before demolishing another dilapidated building on the property, according to a report.

Town spokesperson Kevin Bonner said the trailer housing Call Murf Real Estate Company and its owner, Mary Ann Murphy, have been given 60 days to remove the trailer from property after the town ordered the building at 269 East Montauk Highway demolished last month, Newsday reports.

The town has reportedly received a letter from Murphy's attorney stating she and the company will comply.

Murphy has also told the state's Department of Environmental Conservation that she will no longer attempt to remediate the property and declined to speak to the newspaper about the cleanup. She wrote the department in August to state she was backing out of the Brownfield Cleanup Program for the site, which was accepted in 2007.

"In a few months the truth will be told," Murphy said, adding she "would never do anything to harm this community."

The DEC stated they will consider remediation for the site but that it could also be bought by another developer.

Suffolk County spokesperson Vanessa Baird-Streeter told Newsday a nonprofit organization could take the title and not pay back all of the taxes owed on the site if the property was approved for the county's land bank. Taxes on the site were last paid in 1988 and total around $478,000.

Murphy said in her August letter to the DEC she had paid $120,000 for remediation and had been negotiating with the county for years to purchase the site.

"We cannot continue to pay for this clean up when we may never own and be able to redevelop the site," she wrote.

The site, which had served as a gas station and marine storefront in the past 50 years, has been the subject of the DEC investigation for the last decade concerning a plume of gasoline which had leaked into the water table from the site. The plume has been moving south ever since.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here