Visitors to Tuesday’s meeting of Bradford City Council are fed up with what they say are disruptive tenants — at least 16 of them — occupying a two-story house on Pearl Street.
Kevin Caldwell presented a petition to council, asking for something to be done with a house at 41 Pearl St. He said Rich Middaugh is the owner of the property, but he has not acted on many of the complaints of the neighborhood residents.
The residents sleep late in the day, Caldwell alleged, and stay up late into the night, listening to loud music, sitting on the porch and “partying.” He said cigarette butts are thrown into the road, and wash onto his property when it rains. Another neighbor alleged garbage is thrown onto her property, and she is left to clean up the mess herself.
Code Enforcement officer Mike Cleveland said, “I’m aware of it. I understand. I wouldn’t want to live next to it.” However, he added, each time he’s investigated a code complaint, the matter has been rectified.
“The house has been condemned multiple times for the electricity,” he said. However, the problems are soon rectified and the house is again open for occupancy. Addressing the complaints of too many people living in the home, Cleveland said the law spells out the first occupant of a home should have 150-square-feet of living space, and each additional person should have 100-square-feet. “They’ve never exceeded the capacity,” Cleveland said.
Police chief Chris Lucco said he went to the residence in the morning, along with McKean County Children and Youth Services, for an emergency welfare check. “There was a bed for everybody,” he said. “The house was cleaner than many I’ve been in.”
Lucco said for a disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace complaint to be prosecuted, neighbors need to be willing to testify. “We are doing everything within our legal ability to do.”
Mayor Tom Riel asked how much the residents are paying in rent. Cleveland said $750 a month.
“I don’t know why Mr. Middaugh would allow this to happen,” Riel said. “I don’t know how a responsible landlord could allow this. It’s wrong of Mr. Middaugh to allow this. Shame on him.”
He added that now that the problem has been brought to light, “Maybe the landlord will do the right thing.”
Middaugh was not at the meeting, and a phone number for him could not be immediately located Tuesday night for comment.
In other business, council passed a resolution to establish a 10-year Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone (KOEZ) to include four downtown Bradford properties — 14 Pine St., 15 Main St., 14 Main St. and 40 Main St. Sara Andrews, executive director of the Office of Economic and Community Development, said, “We did this because we don’t want them to deteriorate more,” Andrews said. “We’re trying to encourage reinvestment. This will assist with tax breaks and incentives for businesses to move in.
“We’re trying to take action” to save some old buildings in the city’s downtown before they sit empty for too long and become damaged, she explained. The KOEZ must be approved by all three taxing bodies before it passes. The Bradford Area School Board and McKean County Commissioners each passed the measure at their respective meetings this week.
Also at the meeting, Joe Spencer and Christopher Spaich were appointed temporary firefighters; both had been part-time probationary firefighters.
Council also authorized submitting a grant application to the state for a firefighters’ grant for $13,000. If approved, the city’s fire department would use the funds for a thermal imaging camera and new fire hose.
The next regularly scheduled council meeting is set for 7 p.m. Sept. 24.
