Code Enforcement Committee

City of Middletown OFFICE OF THE GENERAL COUNSEL 245 deKoven Drive Middletown, CT 06457-1300 TEL: (860) 638-4820 FAX: (860) 638-1920 TDD: (860) 344-3521 Minutes Regular Meeting of July 13, 2023 Code Enforcement Committee Committee Members Present: Gary Middleton, Assistant Planner; Lieutenant Nick Puorro; Gary Gessaro; Fire Marshal; Tanielle Davis, Public Health Manager; James Mastroianni, Fire Marshal; Bobbye Knoll Peterson, Chief of Staff; Scott Kotowski, Deputy Fire Marshal; and Christopher Forte, Assistant General Counsel. Members of the Public: None. 1. Call to Order By Staff. AGC Forte called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. 2. Approval of Minutes. Review and approval of the minutes for the June 22, 2023 regular meeting. Motion to Approve made by Gary Gessaro, seconded by Tanielle Davis. Motion passed unanimously at 9:02 am. Scott Kotowski was absent for the vote. 3. Public Session. None. 4. New Business. A. Mayor’s Office. 1. Update from the Mayor’s Office. No updates. B. Public Works. 1. Update from the Public Works Department. No updates. C. Health Department. 1. Update from the Health Department. No updates.  D. Department of Land Use. 1. Update from the Department of Land Use. 1. 76 West Street: Blight for long grass, which was mowed. No further action needed. 2. 5 Westmont Drive: blight for long grass, which was mowed. No further action needed. 3. 19 Clinton Avenue: Reports of work done on property without site plan approval or building permits and an illegal apartment. ZEO Working with owner of property to remediate violations and is setting up a meeting. Will continue to monitor. E. Building Department. 1. Update from the Building Department. No updates. F. Police Department. 1. Update from the Police Department. No updates. G. City Fire. 1. Update from City Fire. No updates. H. South Fire District. 1. Update from the South Fire District. No updates. I. Westfield Fire District. 1. Update from the Westfield Fire District. No updates. J. Office of the General Counsel. 1. Update from the Office of the General Counsel. No updates. 5. Old Business. A. Mayor’s Office. 1. Forbidden Llama: The property passed a multi-agency inspection run by the PD and included Zoning and Health. Health is working with the owner to get the upstairs bar approved. Will continue to monitor. B. Health Department 1. 455 & 465 Middlefield Street: The Mayor’s Office, AGC Forte, Kevin Elak, and ZEO Hazel met with a property owner and Councilman McKeon regarding illegal tenants at 465 Middlefield Street. The PD inspected numerous times since that meeting and found no evidence that residential  tenants were living on the property. No calls for service to the PD since April. Health Department indicated that they will not be moving forward with the re-testing of neighbors wells, because the chemicals they were asked to test for exist in all wells. Health Department will communicate that to the complainant. No new complaints from residents since the last meeting. Land Use stated that they have no updates and have not received any new complaints since the last meeting. C. Department of Land Use 1. 695 South Main Street. The special exception to operate the property as a hookah lounge was revoked by the Planning and Zoning Commission. No further action needed. 2. Bob’s Building. Owner is working on new layout of the building and is expected to order windows and start construction soon. ZEO will inspect and issue orders regarding the windows as necessary. Will continue to monitor 3. 542-544 Main Street: violations remediated. No further action required. 4. 237 Spencer Drive. Complaints of outdoor burning. Fire Marshal inspected the property and found blight and unsafe conditions. ZEO Hazel has cited the property for blight and AGC Forte has referred the matter to the City’s Citation Hearing Officer. Will continue to monitor. D. Building Department 1. 699 Country Club Road: No updates. E. Fire Department 1. 139 Church Street. Fire Department went out to the property, issued orders to correct which will expire in August. Will continue to monitor. F. Office of the General Counsel 1. Forest City Laundry. AGC Forte stated that Land Use and Health have both issued orders against the property because the structure is unsafe, constitutes blight and poses a threat to the health and safety of the City. The expiration of the orders was earlier this week and the violations continue to exist.  MOTION: Motion to initiate clean-and-lien procedures against this property, to rectify the health and blight violations on the property by demolishing the building. Motion made by James Mastroianni and seconded by Gary Gessaro. Motion was approved by a vote of 7 in the affirmative with Gary Middleton abstaining. 2. 102 Main Street Ext. Trash removed on July 5. No other violations on the property. No further action required. 6. Adjournment. Motion to adjourn by James Mastroianni, seconded by Tanielle Davis, and passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 9:22 a.m.