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Borough Tears Down Sewickley Home By Mistake

SEWICKLEY (KDKA) -- It was never the Taj Mahal, and its interiors were never going to grace the pages of Good Housekeeping.

But Dan Murrer says his brother, Erick, had big plans for the old Sewickley home when he bought it nine years ago.

Dan: "He bought it as an investment. It was his retirement."

KDKA's Andy Sheehan: "And it's gone."

Dan: "It's gone."

The house is indeed gone. The lot where it stood just a few weeks ago is now empty after a borough demolition crew torn it down.

Erick, who lives in Kentucky, had a bit of battle with the borough's Code Enforcement Office about overgrown vegetation and the rickety porch.

Dan says he fixed the problems, but the borough tore house down any way.

"It's gone, there was no notice. It just makes you wonder how a mistake gets made," he said.

Borough Manager Kevin Flannery blames a breakdown in communication for the demolition and concedes that the borough fell short in its obligation to post the property for demotion and to alert the Murrers.

"I'm very disappointing our procedure and our communication that this was a letdown," said Flannery. "When someone hits the homerun, the whole team hits the homerun. When someone strikes out, the whole team strikes out."

And like a ball club, after a loss, the borough can only resolve to do better next time. .

"All of our procedures have been revamped so this will not occur again," said Flannery.

It's somewhat refreshing to hear a government entity actually admit to making a mistake, but that doesn't relieve Sewickley of its liability.

The Murrers will need to be compensated for they house which is no longer there.

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