BOARDMAN — The township is seeing improvements in some of its sore spots. Properties that have stirred the ire of neighbors and caused officials headaches are closer to resolutions this summer, even if the processes are still moving slowly.

At the forefront of many residents’ minds is the abandoned and dilapidated apartment building at 1893 Oles Ave.

Neighbors have been complaining about the six-plex for nearly a decade, and legal matters with the building’s owner are still proceeding through the court system.

The Vindicator covered the matter in March after trustees again addressed residents’ concerns at a regular township meeting.

Trustee and local attorney Matt Gambrel represents Compass Family and Community Services, appointed by Mahoning County Probate Court as legal guardian to the building’s owner of record, Dorothea Wydick.

Wydick, 88, of Canfield, has operated rental properties in Boardman and Canfield for years, but her mental faculties have reportedly declined recently to the point that she can no longer manage her own personal affairs, much less operate a rental property business.

At last week’s trustees meeting, a resident again raised the issue of the building, stating that the building appears to not be secured and they have even seen lights on inside.

Gambrel said the matter of determining Wydick’s official ownership of the company and under whose name the building is officially registered was proceeding through probate court until Mahoning County Probate Judge Robert Rusu declined jurisdiction.

“There’s no official paperwork declaring her the owner of this business; there’s no paperwork declaring anyone the owner,” Gambrel said. “So an action was filed in (Mahoning County) Common Pleas Court in June to have her declared the owner, and we’re just waiting on that to go through. As soon as they declare her the owner, it can be sold to someone who will actually do something with it.”

Gambrel said there is a long list of interested buyers, and the building will go to the highest bidder. But Compass cannot offer a clean title to the buyer until the court renders its decision.

Gambrel said last week that he expects the court will take about 45-60 days to make a ruling, and, as long as it is not contested, the process of selling the building should move quickly.

The new owner, whoever it may be, will have to comply with strict conditions.

After the Boardman Fire Department brought the matter to trustees’ attention, the township filed a lawsuit to have the building demolished. Once Compass took over, they struck a deal with the township to drop the suit, with the understanding that any buyer interested in rehabilitating the apartments would have to bring the building up to code — meeting the fire department’s standards — and adhere to strict timelines in doing so. Otherwise, trustees said, the building would be subject to demolition.

RISHER ROAD

On Feb. 11, a fire at 3910 Risher Road killed 47-year-old Steven Soriano. In recent weeks, the township has received complaints about the house and property.

Zoning Inspector T.J. Keiran said he understands people’s frustrations about nuisance properties but also thinks a little more patience and compassion would go a long way.

“People lost their family member, and they need time to settle with the insurance company and they need time to get the place cleaned up. The township does not have any authority to force the timeline. We have to follow the legal processes,” he said. “It’s the same thing with Oles Avenue. People have property rights. The government can’t just go into a home or demolish it without proper procedures.”

Fire Chief Mark Pitzer said the process is moving along and should be resolved before the end of summer if not much sooner.

“I just spoke to her earlier today,” he said on Thursday. “She just signed a contract this morning to have the home demolished. She’s working on that right now and needs to make calls to get the utilities disconnected. She said she hopes to have it demolished by the end of the month.”

That means the fire department will not need to take any action, but Pitzer will inspect the property once the demo work is completed.

The township receives a portion of home insurance money to keep in escrow in case a property is abandoned and needs to be repaired or demolished. Once the contractor completes the demolition on Risher Road and it passes fire inspection, that money will be released to the appropriate next-of-kin.

Just up the road, residents have complained about rats.

Keiran notes that none of those complaints, which were publicized by local media outlets, were ever brought to the township zoning office or the Mahoning County Board of Health. He said the health department told him that the last complaint it had received about rats on Risher Road was from 1999.

He said he did go to one home on Risher and spent an hour-and-a-half there before returning to the township hall to meet with the health department on that very issue.

“They complained about tall grass behind a 6-foot fence that I couldn’t see over,” he said. “But tall grass by itself does not attract rats; they need a food source.”

OTHER HOUSING ISSUES

Another problem was resolved in May after multiple residents complained during an April meeting about the house at 727 Truesdale Road.

Assistant Zoning Director Beth Duzzny noticed the May 5 purchase while she was continuing her research into the property and its missing-in-action owner, Mark Russell.

The Mahoning County Auditor’s website shows that TAAM Properties LLC bought the house — appraised at $102,000 by the auditor and valued at $145,000 on Zillow — for $30,000.

Pitzer said that while the house was abandoned, many of the claims residents made at the meeting — such as animals living in the house — were unfounded.

On Tuesday afternoon, township authorities had another encounter with a problematic property owner.

Pitzer said Arthur Menaldi, the owner of the building at 5600 Market St., has been warned in the past not to let people live in the commercial property.

But a Boardman police report shows that on Tuesday police found several people, including children, living in a space with no kitchen, along with dogs that were kept in a hot room with no water. The police report described unsanitary conditions in the room where the dogs were kept.

“We were called yet again, and a tenant said Art let them live there for $250 a month,” Pitzer said.

Keiran said the issue came onto the radar in recent weeks after Menaldi tried to pull some zoning permits and the township insisted on seeing the interior of the property because of Menaldi’s past problems.

Pitzer said Menaldi had threatened to deny the fire department access to the building. Had he attempted to do so, Pitzer said, the department would have obtained an administrative warrant. The township has told him the people need to be moved out in short order, although there will not be any fines from Boardman at this time.

Mahoning County Children’s Services Bureau and Animal Charity of Ohio were brought into the case, Pitzer said.