Norway in process of evicting Main Street tenants

NORWAY — Norway is seeking an injunction from the Oxford County Superior Court to prevent unsafe apartment units from being rented in a Main Street building, according to town officials at a November 1 selectmen's meeting.

Code Enforcement Officer Joelle Corey-Whitman said Monday that she expected the injunction to be filed that day or on Tuesday. 

"On top of that," said Corey-Whitman, "the owner's son of 168 Main Street has left me a handwritten note that said he's worked with the tenants and they're all going to move out." 

"I thanked him for his time, but we're going to continue with the injunction," she said. "I need to follow through with that." 

The injunction prevents owner, Patrick McInnis, 70, from renting the units until they pass inspection, said Corey-Whitman. 

Corey-Whitman told selectmen that she and town attorney Geoff H. Hole of Portland law firm Berstein Shur have been working "really hard" together over the past two weeks to prepare the documents. 

At Hole's suggestion, she has labeled each violation in the building with a code number Corey-Whitman told selectmen.

She also pointed out that while she has worked hard on the town's rental ordinance, it still needs to be updated to say who is responsible for attorney fees. She plans on requesting a special town meeting in June to update the rental ordinance to include the the fees.  

"There's a fine line between court fees and attorney fees," Corey-Whitman explained. "Attorney fees are not covered in our ordinance." 

The apartment building at 168 Main Street has numerous code violations, some which have been fixed. Other issues, particularly with the electrical system, remain, said Corey-Whitman. 

On October 4, selectmen held off on condemning the property to allow the owner time to make repairs to the units.

When Corey-Whitman returned later for an inspection, she found that too many safety issues remained for the building to continue to be inhabited. 

Safety issues include smoke detectors hardwired together, switches not grounded and some wires that were seared, said Corey-Whitman. 

For weeks, the building has been slated for condemnation, while town officials work with the attorney to ensure everything was done legally. 

"The tenants need to be safe and unfortunately they are not moving out on their own," said Corey-Whitman. In addition, she said she suspects  there will be more condemnations in town. 

She hoped that the tenants at 168 Main Street would realize the safety concerns and move out voluntarily. 

"We've had a lot of landlords work hard to bring their buildings up to code," she said, "and work toward meeting code they weren't even aware of. They are learning just as fast as I am." 

Corey-Whitman said she believes there is also a need for an electrical inspector and Town Manager David Holt said he would have a conversation with Norway Fire Chief Dennis Yates with an eye to having him do electrical inspections.

Selectmen also said they would look into providing more hours in Norway for Corey-Whitman who currently works part-time for the town. She is also a part-time code enforcement officer for Greenwood and Woodstock under a share agreement with Norway.

In addition, she also works part-time for Upton and Hanover.