Judge gives landlord more time

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DANGEROUS — A spliced electrical light in the basement of an apartment building at 168 Main Street in Norway that is required to have a junction box. 

NORWAY —  The owner of an unsafe apartment building at 168 Main Street has been granted additional time to bring his units into compliance following a hearing in Oxford County Superior Court November 28, reported Town Manager David Holt. 

"The town alleges they are unsafe and that they are not fit to be rented," Holt said of the units. "The court is reviewing the town's statements and wants to see that the units are made safe," he explained. 

"If not, the tenants will have to leave." 

The town's code enforcement officer Joelle Corey-Whitman and town attorney Geoff Hole, of the law firm Berstein Shur, went to court November 28 to seek an injunction to condemn the building and evict the tenants from unsafe rental units.

According to Corey-Whitman, the action would prevent tenants from living in the building until the units have passed inspection.

Corey-Whitman said Justice Robert Clifford has instead called for her and Fire Chief/Master Electrician Dennis Yates to perform additional inspections in the apartment building over the next couple of weeks and to give the owner of the building, Patrick McInnis, 70, time to make necessary repairs. 

"The judge wants to make sure we are thorough with our inspections," Corey-Whitman explained, "so he's having us go back and inspect one more time." 

The building has a history of code violations, said Corey-Whitman. She said when she inspected the building a few months ago she found numerous violations still existed, including smoke detectors hardwired together, switches not grounded and some wires that were seared. 

Corey-Whitman said she discussed code violations with Mr. McInnis nearly a year ago and was assured things would be fixed, but that little progress has been made since. 

In October, Corey-Whitman was advised by attorney Geoff Hole to go to court to evict McInnis and his tenants, but the action was tabled by selectmen to give McInnis time to bring his units into compliance. 

"According to Pat, in court, a bunch of things have been fixed," said Corey-Whitman. However, on Monday, after a two-hour inspection, she and Yates found ongoing life safety, electrical, plumbing and suspected structural concerns. 

Deficiencies include electrical panels in the basement that are not easily accessible, missing circuit breakers and numerous junction boxes, outlet and switch boxes not covered, said Corey-Whitman, none of which have been corrected since her last two inspections in June and September. 

In addition, there are holes in ductwork – heat ducts in all units have "no air movement, are clogged with hair, dust or debris and are not connected in the basement to the furnace," she explains. 

"It's just more of the same," says Corey-Whitman. 

"If repairs don't get made the town will continue to ask that the building not be rented out," Holt said last week.

Corey-Whitman said one of Mr. McInnis' units is so unsafe that he's been instructed to evict that tenant "immediately." The other tenants will remain in the building, she said, though she disagrees with the court's decision. 

"We need to get those tenants out," she stated. 

"An upstairs tenant has said that he is there to help Mr. McInnis personally and professionally and they have allowed him [the tenant] to stay because of that," Corey-Whitman said. 

Holt said if the court sees progress being made on the units, it is likely Mr. McInnis will be given additional time to make repairs. 

"If they don't see a good effort being made, the time might be shorter," Holt presumes. 

Holt said the decision on condemning the building rests with the court and that the town has taken all the reasonable action it can. 

"The tenants are adults and are able to think for themselves," Holt said. "These folks choose to stay."

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VIOLATION — Shown here is a heating duct in the basement of 168 Main Street in Norway that has a gaping hole in it. 

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DEFICIENT — Shown here is a an open junction box, left, and an uncovered outlet box, right, in the basement of 168 Main Street in Norway.