BIG MA , TH,EA IMAL TAME
lWO BL C ENTREPRENEURS TACKLE A WHOLE DUSTRY
e4
y Terry eDy
Eight months before three tots
and their 16-year-old babysitter peri ed
in a rue at 248 BeUview, Benton Harbor,
city inspectors had detected 'a gas leak
at the lve" of a fir floor ga heater.
. The city too no action against the
landlord to correct the defective heater OT
any of the other code violations listed in
a five-p ge inspection report dated June
22, 1983.
Benton Harbor Fire Chief David
llincoln id cau of the February 25
fatal rue "appeared to be ga le OD
alve" to the . e heater.
Firefighters fought the blaze live
hour but � unable to ve the child­
n of Debra Allison, 18. Killed ere
. iJa and Char Allison, 3 year-old'
,their . er EDen I Hayne , 1, d
the baby ltter Lisa Harri , 16.
Lincoln said the four were apparent-
ly eep and .noted, "The babysitter
.m de a valiant effort to rescue the child­
teo e I found her at the upstairs windo
holding a child under each arm." .
Why didn't the city ct on it June
.in ction report?
�Kll'flu;,D' T HAZARDOUS
ve to assume that in his (the
in ctor' ) opinion, it not hazard­
ou condition," . In ction Depart­
ment Director Bill Thompson. He noted
that the inspection a done in J p.e
b n no he t WI turned on.
Thompson the report
nt to Er Hue ba, tervhet,
who . listed in county record the
A CH 1 .. 1'
liONS
Owen oore, chairman of Heritage
Bank and owner of oore Enterprises,
1889 -139, Room 408, confirmed that
. he had a financial interest in the property
under a land contract with Huckaba, but _
had nothing to do with management of '
the 248 Bellview property. -
Craig Lane and Robert Baptist also
hold viable land contracts on the proper­
ty d manage i� under he name of Ac­
tion Rentals, same addle as Moore':,
but in Room 208.
Baptist and Moore deny knowing
anything about' the city in pection report
or that there 'were nous problem with
the property. eit r Huckaba or e
could be reached.
Owen . oore, oore Enterpri .. ,
Robert Bapti , Craig Lane, Dwight
Lane, Dick Lane, Cr' . .' Lane - all I
o n over 90 piece of rental propert I
in the city of Benton Harbor. The major-
ity are tax delinquent. . •
SOLD FOR TAXES
The property at 248 Beilview had
been put up for bid t the y, 1983
tax le, As of thi mon h, county
record ow the amount of past due
taxe as $ 1 ,808.61.
Bapti t told The Cithe that he ill
now redeem the taxes by the April
30 deadline so he can '.'collect the in-
f urance."
The property had been insured for
$16000, Baptist id,
The in pection report also listed
for correction: two bro en window ,
o bro en wUldow e , a buckled
all, hole in the foundation, le
Rev. athaniel Gathright, pr
dent of the Concerned Tenants A
ciatkm, has caDed a meeting in con­
junction with SCLC for .all tenant
in the city of Benton Harbor.
, e want anyon ho rents in
the city, especially tho ho live in
. sub ndard homes," Rev. Gathright
'd.
The meeting will be Saturday t
arch 3, at 10 a.m. at Progressive
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Baptist Church, Pipestone and ChUTCh
Streets.
A breakfast will be rved at
9 a.m. and the proceeds will go to
families of fife victim , Rev. Gath­
right 'd.
The Tenant group led a ucce -
ful rent strike gainst the Benton
Harbor Housing Commission two
y ar ago.
around stools and sink,
'ten and ceiling lights
needed "repair . . . and put -in IPper
operation," ¥ nt pipe. to the ga eater
eeded replacement, replacement of all
wall outlet "in thi unit there (' )
all worn out," cl an the celler nd
"go over all electrical- devices and put
in safe workin order." I
The inspection . department noted
in the report that the landlord should
'in tall a g�s valve on gas line to gas
range."
In p ction chief Thomp n explain­
ed the Jun inspection wa "Pha One
of a federal code enforcement program."
According to Thomp • n, Phase T 0
, was "suppo d to follo right up with
. loan rehab program" to make funds avail­
able to property 0 ners in the Bellview
area.
AlTING FO HUD FUNQS
Thompson d property I own r
were "waiting for the federal program n
to correct the .. lations, but said he
idn't know when the federal program
would be available. "Our job i to in­
pect and reinspect," he told The Citizen.
Community Service Director Bill
Lilly id the code enforcement' program
was funded with S4O,000 of Small Cities
funds.
o . new in pector ere -hired, Lilly
ide The money was d to pport the
. current tiff f fo in ctor
Lilly disagreed with ornpson's
interpretation of th program,
rent 1 propertie ere not eli
rehab fundin .!.
Lilly could not explain why no
BULK RATE us,
POSTAGE PAID
Benton Harbor. I 4 2,
, Pm. 50
ADDRESS CORREC11O
REQUESTED
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t,
ction had been taken on the violation.
discovered in the June inspect' n.
"If any violation found ere d
ed critical to health or fety, not' ce to
re air, OT correct would have been .
ed," Lilly aid.
He said it was a determin tion of e
inspectors whether a viol tion w s criti­
cal.
Lilly, ho is also a sistant city man -
ger, id that though all copie of the in-
pections done were filed in hi office,
he had' no now ledge of in ction
department procedure or guide for
code enforcement.
..
I
\
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" y job is . ply to in ure ill t 'the
(HUD funds re I spent for e pUrpo s
intended," Lilly said.
Denying the in ection ere
excercise in paper shuffling, he referred
th' reporter to the city manager _ Accor­
ding to Lilly, the inspection dep ment
,. .
report directly to the city man er.
City anager Ellis Itchell could
not be reached Tuesday. February 28.
Mitchell wa t his home in ashington,
D.C, where his secret ry id h "was
ttending a meeting" and ould n t
return to Benton Harbor unti arc
S.
What ab ut the city ordin nee
.. requiring landlord to have rental prop­
erty inspected and brou ht up to code
prior to renting.
I City anager Ellis it hell promi d
citizens at the March 1 1983 city com­
mi 'on meeting that the rental ordin nce
. uld be enforced.
Co . 12
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