It’s been four months since the owners of the OYO Hotel in Bradford were slapped with a license suspension and long list of code violations. So how are things going?
“They are continuing to work on correcting problems, moving toward making everything right,” said Mike Cleveland, building inspector and code officer for the City of Bradford.
Interim City Administrator Eric Taylor said, “They are operating under a conditional permit to operate a rooming house. The conditional permit was issued with the understanding that they will continue to work on correcting the outstanding issues.”
And they have, he confirmed.
“Mike Cleveland has been going through there every couple weeks, to ensure they continue to make progress,” Taylor said.
At a hearing in October, the property maintenance department had a 19-page list of code violations found at the rooming house, the worst of which were unsafe or inadequate electrical, heating, sanitation and plumbing. An officer who testified detailed infestations of roaches and bedbugs, live electrical wires near water, overloaded electrical systems with space heaters because the heating system wasn’t adequate, a threat to passersby from loose bricks on the structure’s exterior; sinks, tubs and toilets not working; crumbling plaster, peeling paint, water damage, 40 windows missing or broken and more.
Owners Millstone Investment LLC, represented by Ashok Bhatt, said the poor condition was unknown to them and assured they would work with the city to correct it.
On Friday, Cleveland said, “They are complying with the conditions of this permit. At this point they have installed two new commercial water heaters, installed a new forced-air furnace, completed the initial extermination of the entire building, and begun to correct the list of less-serious code violations throughout the building.
“The roof has not been addressed due to the fact that it is winter and nobody could have foreseen or planned on the mild winter that we have had,” he said. “The city is aware of roofers being contacted for quotes, but we are not aware of an actual contract being entered into for the required roof work.
“Finally, the city is making regular general inspections of the property to ensure that the repairs are heading in the right direction as well as ensuring that regular maintenance is occurring to prevent the building from falling into the state of disrepair that it was in,” he said.
Only once has a problem cropped up.
“There was one occasion where one of the city’s property maintenance inspectors was refused access to the building,” Cleveland said. “That incident resulted in summary charges being filed against the owner, Millstone Investment LLC, for violating the city’s housing standards ordinance.”
The rooms inside that do not have heat have been closed off and are not being rented. And now, he said, there are regularly scheduled visits from exterminators as well as a dedicated cleaning person.
“They are headed in the right direction,” he said.
He added that he has some concerns that the heating will be adequate for next winter, or if another cold snap should hit, as happens often in this area in March.
“I believe it is going to be an ongoing issue for years to come, but as long as they are heading in the right direction I believe the city will continue to work with them,” Cleveland said.
