Resolution Looms For Apartment Complex Residents

[Guest guest]

Resolution Looms For Apartment Complex Residents

town Post Journal - town,NY*

By kajohnson@...

POSTED: September 9, 2008

http://post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/511098.html?nav=5018

CELORON - For residents of Ellicott Shores, there is light at the

end of the proverbial tunnel.

That's according to Rick Slagle, Celoron's code enforcement officer,

who said during Monday night's meeting that there ''will be movement

this week.''

''Something will happen, whether it's positive or negative,'' Slagle

said. ''This will be resolved one way or the other. It doesn't

matter to me which way things go - one way just results in more

paperwork for me. The ball is in Mr. Petralia's court.''

Ellicott Shores is a multi-unit apartment complex located off

Ellicott Street. It's owned by Russ Petralia, who works with the

Utica-based Ashford Management Group Inc. The group is also referred

to as the Ashford-Celoron Corp.

In an Aug. 29 letter, Slagle told Petralia that work to eliminate

the mold problems must begin by Sept. 10. Slagle also said Petralia

must send him a replacement schedule for the roofs by that date.

Slagle recently said he and Goodell, village attorney, are

preparing a strategy to take Petralia to court.

''The problem is that if we push this into court too soon, we'll end

up getting the case tossed out,'' Slagle said. ''The court could say

that Mr. Petralia is making an effort to address the issues brought

to his attention and put us back at square one. If someone is making

an attempt, the courts typically do not come down on them too hard.''

Since July, Slagle has been in contact with Petralia regarding a

number of code violations at the apartment complex.

His concerns, according to a July 25 letter he wrote to Petralia,

include excessive leakage on the roofs of two buildings, code

violations on other roofs, lack of weather-tight doors and windows,

cracked or falling plaster or drywall in all buildings, mold in at

least five units, dead trees outside the apartment complex and a

number of instances of disrepair on the outside of several buildings.

Slagle received letters from Petralia on Aug. 6 and Aug. 8. In those

letters, Petralia said he has retained a contractor for the roof

repairs and that once those repairs are complete, all units would be

inspected and ''refurbishment'' would be performed on individual

units.

On Aug. 25, Slagle sent another letter to Petralia outlining his

concerns over mold buildup in some of the apartments. When Slagle

received no response from Petralia, he sent another letter on Aug.

29.

''Time is rapidly running out to accomplish this work before

residents begin closing their apartments for the winter season,''

Slagle wrote in his Aug. 29 letter. ''When this occurs, the exposure

will increase since windows and doors will be sealed against the

weather.''

That's a major concern, Slagle said. Currently, the weather is nice

enough that residents can open their windows and allow fresh air to

circulate through their apartments. But once doors and windows are

sealed for the winter, the air inside each apartment will become

moist and stagnant - conditions that would exacerbate the mold

problem. Water runoff from winter snowstorms will also worsen the

water leaks, Slagle said.

Ellicott Shores resident Chuck Abrahamson, who has lived at the

complex for three years, said Monday night that Petralia recently

sent a letter to residents. However, Abrahamson said, the letter did

not touch on the mold problem.

On Monday night, residents Lois and Chuck Keyes submitted to the

village board a copy of the letter they are sending to Petralia. The

letter outlines their concerns regarding water damage and mold in

their apartment.

''We have had these concerns since December. To date, nothing has

been done and no inspection of the damage has been done. We have had

mold in our closet as well as wet clothing, wet rugs and wet bedding

in our bedroom,'' they wrote in their letter. ''Due to our ages and

health problems, we are growing more concerned as time goes on with

no action taken to alleviate further problems.''

[Guest guest]

We need some kind of national framework to ensure that renters in this

situation, who have often been waiting for years for resolutions, in the

hopes of restoring the safety of affordable apartments, are not tossed out

on the street to fend for themselves in an unfriendly housing market. That

is NOT a " resolution " .

When buildings have serious problems, both landlords and tenants need

technical and logistical assistance. Tenants should not be forced to move,

sometimes for long periods of time, into hotels they can't afford or move

into other apartments that often they can't afford and which may be unsafe

themselves in their now-hypersensitized condition.

The fact that they have not fixed the situation so far to date is a bad

omen.

The market mechanisms that are supposed to work are broken.

Individual tenant's apartments could be temporarily fitted with HRVs so that

they could get fresh air during the winter.. That would help a lot if the

intakes for the HRVs is up and in the clear so that the air brought in is

fresh and free of mold from the building.. and the HRVs are kept clean..

On Tue, Sep 9, 2008 at 2:48 AM, tigerpaw2c <tigerpaw2c@...> wrote:

> Resolution Looms For Apartment Complex Residents

> town Post Journal - town,NY*

> By kajohnson@...<kajohnson%40post-journal.com>

> POSTED: September 9, 2008

>

> http://post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/511098.html?nav=5018

>

> CELORON - For residents of Ellicott Shores, there is light at the

> end of the proverbial tunnel.

>

> That's according to Rick Slagle, Celoron's code enforcement officer,

> who said during Monday night's meeting that there ''will be movement

> this week.''

>

> ''Something will happen, whether it's positive or negative,'' Slagle

> said. ''This will be resolved one way or the other. It doesn't

> matter to me which way things go - one way just results in more

> paperwork for me. The ball is in Mr. Petralia's court.''

>

> Ellicott Shores is a multi-unit apartment complex located off

> Ellicott Street. It's owned by Russ Petralia, who works with the

> Utica-based Ashford Management Group Inc. The group is also referred

> to as the Ashford-Celoron Corp.

>

> In an Aug. 29 letter, Slagle told Petralia that work to eliminate

> the mold problems must begin by Sept. 10. Slagle also said Petralia

> must send him a replacement schedule for the roofs by that date.

>

> Slagle recently said he and Goodell, village attorney, are

> preparing a strategy to take Petralia to court.

>

> ''The problem is that if we push this into court too soon, we'll end

> up getting the case tossed out,'' Slagle said. ''The court could say

> that Mr. Petralia is making an effort to address the issues brought

> to his attention and put us back at square one. If someone is making

> an attempt, the courts typically do not come down on them too hard.''

>

> Since July, Slagle has been in contact with Petralia regarding a

> number of code violations at the apartment complex.

>

> His concerns, according to a July 25 letter he wrote to Petralia,

> include excessive leakage on the roofs of two buildings, code

> violations on other roofs, lack of weather-tight doors and windows,

> cracked or falling plaster or drywall in all buildings, mold in at

> least five units, dead trees outside the apartment complex and a

> number of instances of disrepair on the outside of several buildings.

>

> Slagle received letters from Petralia on Aug. 6 and Aug. 8. In those

> letters, Petralia said he has retained a contractor for the roof

> repairs and that once those repairs are complete, all units would be

> inspected and ''refurbishment'' would be performed on individual

> units.

>

> On Aug. 25, Slagle sent another letter to Petralia outlining his

> concerns over mold buildup in some of the apartments. When Slagle

> received no response from Petralia, he sent another letter on Aug.

> 29.

>

> ''Time is rapidly running out to accomplish this work before

> residents begin closing their apartments for the winter season,''

> Slagle wrote in his Aug. 29 letter. ''When this occurs, the exposure

> will increase since windows and doors will be sealed against the

> weather.''

>

> That's a major concern, Slagle said. Currently, the weather is nice

> enough that residents can open their windows and allow fresh air to

> circulate through their apartments. But once doors and windows are

> sealed for the winter, the air inside each apartment will become

> moist and stagnant - conditions that would exacerbate the mold

> problem. Water runoff from winter snowstorms will also worsen the

> water leaks, Slagle said.

>

> Ellicott Shores resident Chuck Abrahamson, who has lived at the

> complex for three years, said Monday night that Petralia recently

> sent a letter to residents. However, Abrahamson said, the letter did

> not touch on the mold problem.

>

> On Monday night, residents Lois and Chuck Keyes submitted to the

> village board a copy of the letter they are sending to Petralia. The

> letter outlines their concerns regarding water damage and mold in

> their apartment.

>

> ''We have had these concerns since December. To date, nothing has

> been done and no inspection of the damage has been done. We have had

> mold in our closet as well as wet clothing, wet rugs and wet bedding

> in our bedroom,'' they wrote in their letter. ''Due to our ages and

> health problems, we are growing more concerned as time goes on with

> no action taken to alleviate further problems.''

>

>