Building Enforcement Agency

BUILDING ENFORCEMENT AGENCY MINUTES MEETING, COUNCIL CHAMBERS, APRIL 16TH, 2019 @ 2:30 MEMBERS PRESENT: MAYOR, HAROLD MILLER, COUNCILMAN, GEORGE ASH STAFF: CODE OFFICIALS, MATT BURSKEY, TOM MESLER, GEORGE LENGYEL, BOB HINCHEE. OTHERS: WEIRTON DAILY TIMES, CRAIG HOWELL 1. Roll Call 2. Approval of the minute’s March 19, 26th, 2019 ASH: I make a motion to approve the minutes. MAYOR: Second all in favor I. 3. Communications-none 4. Citizen’s Comments-none 5. New Hearings a. Justin Settle, 4045 Brooke St. (Single Family Dwelling.) MESLER: There were no previous violations at this address prior to this current complaint. Mr. Justin Settle came to the inspections office and requested that his house be demoed because of the amount of damage to the foundation in the rear of the house. He said that the insurance company would not cover the damage, and that he could not afford to fix it himself. Code official Matt Burskey and Tom Mesler inspected the inside and took multiple pictures. Multiple violations were found on the interior. Talked to Mr. Settle on the phone and told him about the process of the Bea and that he would have to come to a hearing. I sent him a letter for the notice of hearing date of April 16th. The following violations are the reason for the BEA request. He also asked if he could take anything out of the house, I said he has the right to get what he wants, being that it is his house. EXTERIOR 108.1.1-Unsafe Structures. An unsafe structure is one that is found to be dangerous to the life , health, property or safety of the public or the occupants of the structure by not providing minimum safeguards to protect or warn occupants in the event of fire, or because such structure contains unsafe equipment or is so damaged, decayed, dilapidated, structurally unsafe or of such faulty construction or unstable foundation, that partial or complete collapse is possible. 108.1.5—7 Dangerous structure or premises—The building or structure, is neglected, damaged, dilapidated, unsecured or abandoned so as to become an attractive nuisance to children who might play in the building or structure to their danger, becomes a harbor for vagrants, criminals or immoral persons to resort to the building or structure for committing a nuisance or an unlawful act. 304.13 Window, skylight and door frames-Some of the windows, and doors has been removed. 304.7 Roofs and drainage – The gutters and downspouts have been removed. 304.5 Foundation Walls-Foundation walls shall be maintained plumb and free from open cracks and breaks and shall be kept in such condition so as to prevent the entry of rodents and other pests. 304.2 Protective treatment – Some of the soffit and fascia has been removed from the outside of the house. INTERIOR 605.1 Installation - Exposed wire: Wiring has been stripped out of the entire house 305.6 Interior doors- Some of the interior doors has been taken out also. 305.3 Interior surfaces - cracked, loose, missing plaster: There are holes in the plaster at different locations. 305.1 General - deplorable conditions interior: There is debris throughout this house. The missing doors and windows, and extensive drywall damage resulting in missing copper and wiring was done by Mr. Settle or one of his associates after it was deciding to present this house to the BEA for possible demolition. It would be economically unfeasible to bring this structure in to code. Doors, roof, foundation wall, soffit and fascia, windows, and other repairs and clean-up would cost approximately $60,000. This property appraises for $30,000 It is for the above stated reasons that the Inspections Dept. is requesting this property with accessory structures be demoed pending asbestos inspections. dislodge. #6 portion of building is clearly unsafe for use occupancy. SETTLE: I was told it would take $60,000 to fix it. It is worth $40,000 and I owe $32,000. It doesn’t make any sense to fix it. PNC bank will be taking it over at the end of April. I came here because of the safety of the citizens and asked to have this house demoed. I was told I could take anything out of the house. I was not restricted or told I couldn’t take anything structural stuff out. I have paid thousands of dollars for the windows and doors and anyone would take the copper pipe. When the police showed up for unknown reasons the day, I was threatened by this committee that if I didn’t have it closed up by that evening, I would have a $20,000 fine. There were three inspectors that came down. I wasn’t there but I was told by a guy that they were there and had told him about the fine. There is nothing structurally wrong in this house. BURSKEY: Whoever told you that is lying. These inspectors are sitting here and none of us said that. SETTLE: I told you I was not there. BURSKEY: Someone gave you wrong information. SETTLE: I have a good friend who is in the industry of building houses. I trust his judgment. The safest place in that house is the garage. It is the most structurally place in the house. I spent 18 years serving my country since 2001 for 9/11. November 26th I was booted out because I was unfit for duty. I spent my life looking for bombs. I had a few members pass away and I have no money to rent a truck and go to Lowes and buy plywood to board that up. Trump caused the shutdown and, therefore, back logged my severance pay by two months. ASH: Here is the procedure that I know. You were told to board it up. You will receive a summons to appear before the judge. He will determine what you are to do SETTLE: That’s fine. BURSKEY: We would have to give him a notice of violation. I don’t think he quite understands even though you may have foreclosed on the house. As long as the records at the court house is in your name, the house is still yours. If something happens, and someone gets hurt there it is still your responsibility not the bank nor the city. SETTLE: Once that condemned sign went up you said the city was responsible. BURSKEY: No, that’s not what I said. ASH: They are telling you that isn’t true. SETTLE: You can’t tell me two different things. ASH: We are not responsible for your property. SETTLE: The reason I referenced the flag Mayor was because we just came altogether after 9/11. You are telling that someone who has spent most of their time in the military this. I am being picked on. I am a federal officer. I am being harassed by supposedly this door that needs to go up in a structurally sound part of the house. MAYOR: The city knows I honor the veterans. No, you’re not being discriminated against. This house is unsafe and you need to get this corrected and take responsibility. How did that wall cave in? SETTLE: When I bought the house, they hid the repair wall. When it came back from the insurance. When I went to look at it, we had no clue that there wasn’t any foundation wall. They put a drywall up to hide it. I didn’t know it wasn’t the original wall. ASH: I make a motion to demo the property and to include the asbestos abatement and that if he doesn’t board this up then he will have to go in front of the judge. MAYOR: Second all in favor say I, motion is carried.  b. George Jackson, 316 Ohio St. (Single Family Dwelling.) GILLISON: I am representing my uncle, Mr. Jackson. We received the notice of violation of the demolition of the property. He is the legal record owner of the property. However, in 2013 he deeded that property over to Rodney D. Stevens. Just for record he is a sex offender. What happened was when my uncle conveyed the property to him it was a $2,000 sale. There was a deed that was prepared in my office that I have here with me today. He never recorded his property because he was an offender. Grounds for not registering your property within a certain period of time is grounds for having your probation revoked. My uncle is the equitable owner but not the legal owner of that property. We have no objections on the demolition of this property. BURSKEY: As you can see from the pictures it needs to be demolished. all the drywall is gone. Nothing on the inside to be testing but on the siding there might be asbestos. This structure caught on fire on February 28, 2019. The only thing is if they decide to demo this a lien is put on the property and it would still be Mr. Jackson’s responsibility to cut the grass. GILLISON: We understand that. My uncle was paying the taxes on this. He was paying for all of his properties. He doesn’t have any interest on this. BURSKEY: As long as his name is still on there, he is responsible. Not sure if you can get that recorded or not. GILLISON: Mr. Stevens has the original deed. I spoke to him and he needs to come back in and get it recorded. He is looking at facing criminal charges. BURSKEY: What if he doesn’t do it? GILLISON: If he doesn’t then Mr. Jackson is the owner of the property. We want no liability or any interest in this property. What would you want us to do regarding on the grass? BURSKEY: If they decide to demo it then the City will put a lien on the property. He would have to maintain the grass so we don’t have to pay to get it cut. GILLISON: That would fall on Mr. Stevens. I don’t think he has ever taken possession of the property. I know where he lives. He was given instructions to get this taken care of. BURSKEY: I have a question if Mr. Stevens comes up and signs that deed can you go up and get it recorded for him? GILLISON: Yes, I thought he was going to take care of it. I didn’t have the permission of him to do that. ASH: I make a motion to demo this property and to include the asbestos abatement in it. MAYOR: Second, all in favor I. c. Rose Stipanovich,59 Liberty Ave. (Detached Garage) BURSKEY:(Pictures were passed out to the board.) The City of Weirton Inspections Department received a complaint concerning the detached garage at 59 Liberty Ave on October 16, 2017. The complaint was for the detached garage needing demolished. A Notice of Violation was delivered on November 18, 2017. I spoke to Ms. Stipanovich on December 20, 2017. She did not want her garage demolished, and I agreed to give her time. She did not have a good plan to make the necessary repairs to the structure. She wanted to patch the gaps with mortar. It appears that the foundation has failed with the way the block has shifted. Ms. Stipanovich was eventually cited and appeared in City court. BEA Notice of Hearing was mailed certified mail on March 29, 2019 and delivered on April 8, 2019. Due to the condition of the garage, it would be economically unfeasible to bring this structure into code compliance. Therefore, with the facts presented to you today, it is my opinion that this structure, should be demolished pending an asbestos investigation. EXTERIOR 302.7 Accessory Structure. Accessory structures include detached garages which shall be maintained structurally sound and in good repair. The foundation must have failed. The block has drastically shifted. I don’t think that there is any way for this structure to be repaired at this point. There is also chipped and peeling paint and broken windows. You can also see in the pictures a sag in the roof between the trusses. STIPANOVICH: I have lived in this house for 32 years. I don’t have a curb in front of my house so the water runs down the road into my yard. I had to replace my porch 10 years ago and it cost me $10,000. Because the steps were sinking and it was pressing on my foundation. I have called the city a lot on this. John Brown came to my house after threatening the city. He showed up and then they put half of a curb. I am a resident and a tax payer. I don’t know anyone that has a half of a curb in front of the house. I don’t know anyone that has pleaded with the city for 30 years to get this done. I do know the water cause damage, now to the garage. It sits in the rear of my lot. Now the water runs to the curb then to the side of my garage. I had a four-wheel drive and I couldn’t get out because the ground is saturated. I have seen the code department numerous times. They show you pictures of just what they want you to see. I have lots of pictures. After the rains we had someone get stuck in my yard. I believe that water damage caused it to crack and I still don’t have a curb. I reached out to Public Works. I finally got a hold of Mr. Lamp. Here is what I got. I will get out there and take a look at it and see what I can do. He didn’t take my name or number so I knew he wasn’t going to do anything. Mr. Rosnick forget about him because you can’t get to him. You probably could. You would think they would try and make a wrong right. They never made a phone call to me. Last fall I suggested to Mr. Burskey that I would patch and paint the garage to appease him. We went back and forth as to why the garage got damaged. He’s not an inspector or an engineer. This is all speculation and his opinion and I have mine. Anyone in this room knows water erodes cement. The fact that someone is choosing to ignore that this water had no effect on the structure just blows my mind. ASH: Who are you talking about? STIPANOVICH: Mr. Burskey. ASH: He is an inspector and is certified in a lot of different categories. STIPANOVICH: He still is not a certified engineer. I can look at something at say its not right just because I can see it. Doesn’t mean it needs tore down. I offered to patch and paint the garage until I can get the city down there to get this curb fixed. I am in the city limits. MAYOR: Are you the only one that doesn’t have a curb? STIPANOVICH: Yes, I am I only have a half curb. MAYOR: Do you use this garage currently? STIPANOVICH: I have a car in there and I have all my stuff in there. MAYOR: I will go down and take a look at the curb. I want to talk about this garage. STIPANOVICH: I have an antique car in there. I have no place to put my stuff and I have no place else to put my stuff. This is going to diminish the property value on my home and they will put a lien on the property. I just retired last year. I offered to fix it and he insisted that the garage needs tore down. I called Carl Frankovitch. He did what he did last fall. Not sure what was going on, suddenly I get another notice right around the holidays. ASH: Has she ever got cited for this? BURSKEY: Yes, and she has appeared in court. She might be right but I am not going to dispute the fact that the curb may have caused the damage. Even if the curb got put in today it won’t resolve the issue with the garage. The damage is already done. The first time she came to court and we gave her more time to fix it or consult her lawyer or to sue the city. But nothing was ever done. If she spoke with Mr. Frankovitch, he never asked me for anything. STIPANOVICH: I never seen any papers. The last time I was in court the judge fined me $100.00. All because the paint was chipped and you told me not to paint it. BURSKEY: The fine was not just for that it was for the condition of the cite. STIPANOVICH: I contacted a structural engineer from Ohio and he is supposed to write it down and give me his expert opinion. ASH: Do you have his name and number? STIPANOVICH: No, I don’t have it with me. I have to get money and pay him and I don’t have it. It is getting worse. The guy that cuts my grass it’s so wet. Whatever happens with the garage and what this gentleman finds he will do his assessment on it. I feel the city should be responsible for it. I have pictures from the 90’s and the garage was fine. MAYOR: You did agree last fall to take care of some of these issues and you haven’t done that yet. STIPANOVICH: I did call Mr. Frankovitch. I asked if I could just patch and paint it and Mr. Burskey said no were tearing it down. This winter there was so much water and it was froze over I could barely get out. ASH: I appreciate everything you are telling me. I give these code officials hell on the time because I am very impatient and I want things done. But they are all very compassionate. For you to suggest that they aren’t, you are wrong. They will go out of there way to help you out. When you do nothing and just say you made a phone call we have nothing here from Mr. Frankovitch and we have nothing from him. This garage is unsafe as it is today. I will make a motion to demolish this garage and to include the asbestos. If this passes you will get a letter and you have 20 days to appeal back to us. If you come back with an engineer or Mr. Francovich or documentation, we can reconsider this at this point. After that if we still say it still goes down then you will have to go to circuit court. STIPANOVICH: I have one question unsafe for whom? ASH: Anyone that has to go in there. In case of the fire or the code officials could have got injured. MAYOR: You need to contact Mr. Frankovitich. STIPANOVICH: If he is standing here then everything has a different spin. Attorneys cost a lot they charge you just for a phone call. This is my third time here and have talked to Mr. Burskey four times. ASH: After today you won’t have to come back. He will give you the notice in writing on what has to be done regarding the 20 day to appeal. MAYOR: I second it. Motion carried. File your appeal when you get that notice. STIPANOVICH: I would like to see the original complaint on this. I never received anything I could take to my attorneys. BURSKEY: Ok, have a seat and I will get it to you after the meeting. STIPANOVICH: I called my councilman 3 times and he never returned my calls. 6. Administrative Business a. Larry Flati, 143 S. 11th (Single Family Dwelling.) BURSKEY: This is the one we gave her the extension on. HINCHEE: I was going to call her after Easter when her 30 days is up. b. Montana Sky, LLC, 425 Wayne Ave. (Single Family Dwelling.) BURSKEY: There is asbestos in this one. We will get that up for bid. c. James Carducci, 3623 West St. Rear (Single Family Dwelling.) BURSKEY: There was asbestos in this one. The bids are still out on this one. I recommend we carry b and c over. d. Donald Brown Sr., 129 Era St. (Single Family Dwelling) BURSKEY: Council passed those resolutions last month on the demolition contracts. ASH: I recommend we carry over a,b, c and d. MAYOR: All those in favor I. e. Hugh Haggerty, 3110 Orchard St. (Single Family Dwelling.) ASH: I recommend we remove this from the demolition list and send Mr. Haggerty a letter and also post the house. Let him know that he is responsible for this. BURSKEY: I explained that to him today about how he is responsible for all the structural issues and Mrs. Tate is responsible for the cleanliness. f. Michelle Teague, 4104 Labelle St. (Single Family Dwelling.) g. Tony Iaquinta, 3221 Elm St. (Single Family Dwelling.) BURSKEY: I recommend we carry over f and g. The asbestos has been removed from 3221 Elm. Just waiting on Mr. Pulice to demo both of these. ASH: I make a motion to carry this over. MAYOR: Second ASH: I make a motion to adjourn MAYOR: So, moved.