Published: October 20, 2008 11:48 pm      

City officials on list on noncompliant rental properties

Full list of noncompliant property owners and properties



By Jake Palmateer

Staff Writer



ONEONTA _ Two city aldermen, several city board and commission members and a city judge are among those without valid certificates of compliance for their rental properties, according to city records.

As of Oct. 7, the owners of 545 of the city’s 955 residential rental properties lacked valid COCs.

The Common Council’s Intergovernmental Affairs Committee is expected to discuss how best to deal with the backlog at a 7 p.m. meeting Thursday in City Hall.

The first step will be to prioritize the properties in order to take care of potentially unsafe dwellings first, said First Ward Alderman and IGA Chairwoman Maureen Hennessy.

“We’re looking at getting some people to come in and help,” Hennessy said, adding that temporary part-time employees and contractors will be considered to help deal with an anticipated increase in paperwork and inspections.

The number of noncompliant properties was publicly released two weeks ago by the Code Enforcement Office after an inquiry by Fourth Ward Alderman Mike Lynch.

Several city officials, including two elected aldermen, are among the property owners who don’t have valid COCs, according to a list of names released Thursday through a Freedom of Information Law request by The Daily Star.

These include City Judge Walter Terry III, Parks and Recreation Commissioner David Ranieri, Zoning and Housing Board of Appeals Chairman Ed May, Plumbing Board members Joe Ruffino and Joe Delberta, Electrical Board member Edward Dower and Community Relations and Human Rights Commission member Annemarie Hosnedl. Otesgo County Attorney James Konstanty owns a property on the list, as does Third Ward Alderman Erik Miller and Sixth Ward Alderman Veronica Diver. Miller is a Republican, and Diver is a Democrat.

Mayor John Nader’s brother-in-law, Thomas Longo, also has a noncompliant property, according to the list.

Miller, who owns a two-family home on Elm Street, said his property is in use as a single-family home for his own family.

“Everything has been converted back to a single-family (home),” Miller said.

But Miller said he never registered the home with the city as a single-family residence.

Miller said he plans to take care of the steps necessary to get his COC as soon as possible.

“The way the regulation is written, I’m as guilty as the next guy,” Miller said.

Diver did not immediately return a call for comment Monday.

COCs and inspections

COCs are issued to owners of properties that substantially meet state and local building, fire and housing codes. Among other uses, these certificates are required by the city for property owners who rent to tenants and apply for summer rental permits.

In order to maintain a valid COC, a property owner must be up-to-date on inspections of heating systems, electrical systems, sprinkler inspection reports and smoke-detector inspection forms, according to city regulations.

The cycle of inspections ranges from every nine years for electrical systems to every year for smoke-detection systems.

In the case of smoke-detection systems, property owners must perform the inspections themselves or have them done by a licensed electrician. A signed inspection form must be submitted to the Code Enforcement Office every 12 months, according to city regulations.

There are 221 rental properties in the city whose owners had overdue smoke-detector inspection forms, according to the Code Enforcement Office.

That office sends letters to property owners informing them of overdue inspections or inspection forms.

Peter Clark, owner of Peter Clark Student Rentals, which manages about 100 apartments, said that through the years, a COC was seen by landlords as a nice thing to have but not a necessity. Clark has 12 properties on the list, the greatest number of any single owner.

“The code office always knew we took care of our properties,” Clark said. “We know there is an awful lot of responsibility involved.”

Clark and his son Seth said they take pride in the business they run.

“We know how good our apartments are,” Peter Clark said.

Having a COC is also no guarantee that a property is safe, the Clarks said, noting that some houses they have purchased with valid COCs have been in bad shape.

Peter Clark Student Rentals has taken steps to get its required COCs, said company property manager Adam Kempley.

When did officials become aware?

Nader said he has written a memo to all aldermen and board and commission members to remind them to obtain a valid COC.

Hennessy said the magnitude of the problem was only learned recently.

“There was never an indication that there had been that many properties that had not been inspected,” she said.

Nader also said it was only recently that he became aware of the number of noncompliant property owners.

However, former Code Enforcement Officer Peter Friedman said the mayor and Hennessy were aware of it before he retired.

Friedman said he tried to get the Common Council to pass legislation cracking down on property owners renting without COCs. Some components of this legislation involve civil penalties for noncompliance.

“The ordinance that I proposed was designed as an enforcement mechanism,” Friedman said.

Under the current system, Friedman said, if the code office was faced with a noncomplying property owner, there would be two options _ taking the owner to court or declaring the building unsafe.

“I tried many times over the years to get more authority to enforce the code,” Friedman said.

But the legislation proposed by Friedman was set aside by IGA after Friedman retired Feb. 20. Hennessy has said this was because the committee was waiting for the hiring of a new code enforcement officer.

City officials have previously said a new code enforcement officer would not be hired until 2009.

The day-to-day affairs of the Code Enforcement Office are being managed by code inspector Pat Roodhof, who suggested in a memorandum to Lynch that the Common Council look at a way to fine property owners who don’t comply with COC regulations.

“We’ve begun to draft a series of civil penalties,” Nader said.

Hartwick College, several large student-rental businesses and the owners of several multi-story buildings on Main Street were also among those on the list of property owners lacking valid COCs.

  

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