Brownsville council wants tenants to leave apartment complex deemed unsafe
BROWNSVILLE — Borough council members said they are concerned about two residents refusing to relocate from a downtown apartment complex.
Council President Jack Lawver and borough Solicitor Krisha DiMascio reported that two tenants at Brownsville Apartments, a U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) apartment complex at 100 High St., refuse to leave in accordance with fire safety concerns identified by the borough and HUD over the past several months.
Relocations began in December, Lawver said, impacting approximately 30 residents.
Robert Arthur of Charleroi-based Sage Partners owns the apartment building and has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
At council’s monthly meeting, DiMascio said the borough’s likely next step is to condemn the building, adding that she planned to talk with borough code official Myron Nypaver to see if there were already citations filed in court against the building owner.
DiMascio said that the borough could forcibly remove the remaining tenants.
“They cannot live in the death trap that that building is,” DiMascio said.
Nypaver detailed those concerns in December, reporting a “basically nonexistent” smoke detection system, standpipes that don’t work and no way to get water from the ground floor to the upper floors in the event of a fire.
A fire at Brownsville Apartments on the night of Feb. 3, 2017, called further attention to what South Brownsville Fire Company Chief Ron Barry said last year were several major safety concerns with the complex.
Approximately 55 to 60 residents were evacuated and transported to the South Brownsville Fire social hall, where the Red Cross made arrangements to get them shelter on the night of the fire, Barry said in Feb. 2017.
Barry noted the lack of a working fire alarm system, lack of a functional standpipe system and the housing of an obese, wheelchair-bound tenant on the sixth floor, who had to be assisted down six flights of stairs.
According to a Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) inspection report read by Councilman Jim Lawver last year, the REAC observed 42 exigent health and safety violations at Brownsville Apartments, two of which were life-threatening, in addition to 111 level-one deficiencies, 24 level-two deficiencies, 153 level-three (most serious) deficiencies.
Serious physical deficiencies included blocked emergency exits, missing or damaged smoke detectors, cracks and or holes in ceilings, missing or damaged windows and window screens, and obstructed or missing accessibility routes.
The REAC’s mission is to assess HUD’s housing portfolio by providing information to help ensure safe, decent and affordable housing, according to HUD.
“(Arthur) needs to come in and do something with that building,” DiMascio said. “We need to hang that over his head, and I really think we should cite him for every possible citation that was found in the HUD report as well as our own report.”
Borough officials have been spent months trying to reach Sage Partners.
“If something would happen to (the remaining tenants), the owner’s liable,” DiMascio said. “If I was the owner, I would want them out. There’s clearly enough evidence that that building is unsafe. There’s clearly enough evidence that that owner is on notice that that building is unsafe.”
DiMascio said that the borough could forcibly remove the remaining tenants but added that “that’s not always the best way to go about this.”
Still, DiMascio said that the finality of condemnation needs to be communicated to the tenants refusing to leave.
“At some point, that building’s going to be condemned, it’ll be padlocked, and they won’t be able to go in and get their belongings,” DiMascio said. “We certainly don’t want that to happen.”
Nypaver said in December that all residents at Brownsville Apartments would be afforded a new place to live. HUD hired a relocation company to move residents out of the building and has had a team that has been operating out of the borough office at 200 Second St.
A sign declaring Brownsville Apartments uninhabitable was posted on the on the door of the building on Feb. 5, Lawver said.
In other business, DiMascio reported that she received a letter from a lawyer representing the Southwestern Pennsylvania Landlords Association expressing concerns and intent to make suggestions for amendments to council’s proposed rental ordinance.
Council advertised an ordinance in October that would impose an annual $60 charge per rental unit on landlords and mandate an occupancy inspection every two years, even if landlords have had the same tenants for a longer time period.
DiMascio said that some of the items the association was concerned with wouldn’t make a difference to council.
“(I)f it makes it more tolerable for them and easier to deal with, fine,” DiMascio said, adding that she replied to the association’s lawyer by noting she would review the concerns raised, and bring them to council, which will seek public input on the proposed ordinance.
Council additionally approved the second annual TeamHumanity Games to be held on June 16 in Brownsville at the request of borough native and 10-year NFL veteran William James, who organized the community event held in downtown Brownsville last year as well.
The seven participating communities will be Brownsville, Uniontown, California, Belle Vernon, Washington, Monessen and Donora, James said, adding that participants will be ages 7 to 18.
Last year, communities were invited to compete in kickball, dodgeball, Scrabble and other games.
“I think it was a great event for Brownsville,” said James, previously known as Will Peterson. “I think it brought a lot of the community together.”
The games will kick off at 8 a.m. with a 5K race and end around 5 p.m. with a trophy ceremony for the community garnering the most points in the day’s events. James said the community totaling the most points this year will host the games in 2019.