NORTH PROVIDENCE – Neither Gary Tiberi nor his representatives showed up for a status update in North Providence Municipal Court last Wednesday, and that matter has now been rescheduled to August. 26, say officials.
The town’s lien on Tiberi’s property at 15 Elm St. remains in effect, they emphasized.
“When he decides to pay, it’s like money in the bank to us,” said Mayor Charles Lombardi.
The property “was a mess for quite some time” before the town cleaned it up, said Lombardi, and they’re keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t get that way again.
“I can guarantee you, it will remain clean,” he said.
Tiberi, husband of “Real Housewives of Rhode Island” participant Jo-Ellen Tiberi, has being seeking reduced fees on the more than $5,000 he owes to the town for its tax lien, including for court costs, mailings, dumpster removal, and labor.
A visit on Tuesday showed the grass growing long again and the bushes starting to become overgrown.
According to town documents, Tiberi, of Cranston, purchased the North Providence home for $176,000 in December of 2010. He was cited last year for violations of minimum housing standards, including weeds, garbage, and sanitation issues.
According to officials, Tiberi failed to respond to notices sent to his Cranston home last year, and then failed to appear in Municipal Court for hearings in October and November. The town then got permission to clean up the property and place a lien on it to recoup its costs.
Bills added up for the total on the lien included town staff and laborer time, use of trucks, and use of town equipment. The nearly $6,000 in costs didn’t include future charges, according to officials.
Tiberi showed up for a court date in January, where he requested reduced fees, and during a status update two months later, he was granted a $1,000 reduction. He had made the case that he was cleaning up the property following an eviction of a bad tenant. He later told the town’s judge that he had tried to make contact with Lombardi by phone to talk about the fees, but hadn’t been able to and would go see him for an in-person discussion.
Lombardi said this week that Tiberi had already made that request to him at the time of his comments, and the mayor had told him that he couldn’t help him.
“I can’t treat him any different than anyone else,” he said on Tuesday.
