BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- Drug use, sex in public and domestic incidents have become commonplace at 18 Park Avenue, according to nearly three dozen village of Massena residents who sought answers from police and the village board of trustees during the Aug. 20 board meeting.

The property, which many called "a nuisance," has been the topic of discussion amongst residents for months now with a string of public incidents requiring police responses every day.

Susan Hatch, a neighbor of the property, called for the property to be condemned and the current residents be removed.

She said children live across the street from the property and see the incidents daily.

"There's swearing going on at that place, all out screaming, and I mean all hours, people outside having sex. We have little kids across the street that can see this and nothing's being done because the owner lives in California," she said.

Hatch asked the board to crack down on "absentee landlords," or landlords that own property in Massena but do not live within the community.

Hatch said the neighborhood had turned into a "ghetto" in recent years.

"It's awful. I own my home. I've worked hard for my home," Hatch said.

Village trustees have taken steps in recent months to better handle such properties, including establishing a landlord registry to ensure property inspections can be completed and a local contact is available if a code violation occurs. Trustees said that resource has allowed them to register and review a significant portion of rental properties in the village.

According to Code Enforcement Officer Aaron Hardy, of the properties currently registered 56% are owned by individuals who live out of state.

The property at 18 Park Ave. is currently owned by Whitney Verkade, a California businessman who recently purchased Canton's Cascade Inn.

Public safety concerns

Haley Johnston is another resident on Park Avenue who voiced her concerns at the meeting.

According to Johnston, she lives next door at 20 Park Avenue, which has subjected herself and her family to the turmoil.

She said she moved in this May and immediately began witnessing domestic violence, drug abuse and criminal activities almost immediately.

Johnston detailed one incident in which a dog from 18 Park Ave. came into her yard, going nose to nose with her own dog that was on a leash.

"Thankfully, (the dog) was friendly to my dog, but the woman was not nice about the situation. I don't know how she would have reacted if I wasn't there. So, I don't even have the luxury of letting out my dogs without having to watch them," she said.

Johnston said her boyfriend also had a run in with a man who lives at 18 Park Ave. while attempting to leave for work around 5 a.m.

She told board members the man approached her boyfriend's vehicle as he was backing out of the driveway and "acted like he was going to attack him."

"This man came and approached his vehicle while he was backing out and acted like he was going to try to attack him. "My boyfriend rolled down his car window and asked the guy what his problem was. The man backed away from the car and said he was sorry, that he thought my boyfriend was the man that tried to jump him that morning," she said.

She said her boyfriend immediately called her to tell her she needed to ensure all doors and windows were locked.

"My boyfriend doesn't even have the luxury of knowing his family is safe when he leaves the home," she said.

Trash complaints pile up

While criminal activities at the property are the largest concerns, village residents also commented on the physical condition of the property.

Many residents said trash was strewn across the yard and surrounding the building, bringing in skunks, raccoons, mice, rats and feral cats to their properties.

While trash collections were another topic of conversation for the board, residents like Donald Lucas suggested a code change that would require apartment complexes to either have a large dumpster for trash or a specific, adequate number of trash cans to account for garbage.

Lucas said trash issues, like that at 18 Park Ave. and properties on Center Street, lead to garbage ending up all over the street as well.

"The landlord doesn't care, other than the fact that I do believe that now he is picking up his own trash because, as I reported at the last meeting, the bags are there after the (village DPW) truck goes by. But there needs to be something done about the trash that's just left to be blown in the wind," Lucas said.

Dennis Kemison agreed with Lucas, saying the garbage issue is "getting out of hand."

"You drive down the road, you see garbage all over. People just don't care," he said.

Drugs perpetuate problems

Kemison said those who are addicted to drugs and the homeless also play a role in the current issues but noted that nothing can really be done unless they are caught in the act of a crime.

"Even with the cameras at the footbridge, if you catch them shooting up what can you really do?" he asked.

Chief of Police Jason Olson confirmed not much can be done unless someone is caught with the drugs in their possession.

In that case, the individual would be charged with a misdemeanor drug possession charge and issued an appearance ticket.

"Nobody goes to jail anymore," Kemison said.

"I hear people say all the time 'well, the police don't do anything'. But you guys are going to 18 Park all the time, 100 times for such a length of time. You guys can't do nothing because your hands are tied,” Kemison said. 

Property manager and maintenance worker speak up

Though Verkade was not in attendance, property manager Ashley Radell was there on his behalf along with a maintenance worker who identified himself only as Jason.

Radell told attendees that she herself had gone over to the property on multiple occasions to attempt to "remove the squatters" herself, saying it "was an impossible task" to evict them or to get them to behave properly.

She said only two individuals in the building are technically tenants, while all others are squatters who have established residency in the building.

"That's the couple that's always fighting. I tried to have them removed but they have squatters rights. It's very impossible," she said.

Radell claimed she had gone through the courts to conduct an eviction at the property, along with a separate property in Norfolk, only to have the paperwork in Massena "kicked back" while the court in Norfolk allowed the eviction process to succeed.

"I'm going down to Park at 11 o'clock at night, kicking in doors because I get frustrated too," she said.

While Radell claimed she was attempting to help by removing the squatters, Mayor Greg Paquin said ultimately it should be up to Verkade to follow through with the legal process.

"It shouldn't be on you. It should be on the owner. And I feel grateful you're trying, but it really should be him that is doing this," Paquin said.

Verkade's maintenance worker, who identified himself only as Jason, said he is "one guy trying to do what he can."

He suggested the community work together to help those in need at the property, saying that even Fortune 500 CEOs can be drug addicts as well.

"It's, it's hard to try to keep up with everything. And I do what I can. And it takes a community as a whole to, you know, do something about it. You know, if the problem is not the building, the problem is the people that are in the community. Yeah, they may be drug addicts, but you know, there's drug addicts that are fortune 500 company owners, you know, "If you see somebody that's struggling, you know, don't, don't put your hatred on them. Maybe, you know, try to speak with that person, or, you know, try to see what's going on in their life. You know, they probably have families. They probably have children. You know, they, they're squatting there because they have to. You know, it's not like they want to. So, maybe as a community, as a whole, we can stop and help these people better," he said.

Help offered to those in need

But Paquin and Olson were quick to point out that the individuals living at 18 Park Ave. are offered support every time police or fire and rescue respond to a call for help or criminal complaint.

"I understand what you're saying but people have a choice. They can make a choice in how they behave, they do, but it takes them reaching out. I understand people need help. Yeah, but people have to help themselves as well and they have to learn how to behave in a society.  What they're doing over there is ridiculous," Olson said.

But Radell pushed back, saying she attempted to call the police multiple times for "a kid that smashed out the windows."

"I went to the police station, asked for help. They told me, at 11:30 at night, that I'd have to contact Whitney," she said.

But Olson said his officers have responded to the property for every call for assistance.

"I have two officers or four officers on at a time that have to cover this entire village. We can't even be as proactive as we want because of what's happening. It's that property, because of the behavior that people are living there are consuming an enormous amount of time in my office, taking them away from other areas of this village that need them as well," Olson said.

Residency requirements complicate matters

Olson told attendees that once an individual has established residency by living in a property for 30 days and is able to receive mail or pay a bill at the property, it is impossible for police to remove them for trespassing due to state laws.

"Once they have established residency, we have no authority to remove them. They would then have to be evicted through the civil process," Olson said.

Though residents voiced frustrations, Olson said his officers are very limited in what they are allowed to do.

"We have to act within the law. My officers put themselves at risk, getting arrested, getting charged, getting sued, and they're not going to do that. I'm not going to do that," Olson said.

Olson said officers must follow a process which can take time to play out.

"There's a process, unfortunately, that process can take time, and I can understand. Listen, I wouldn't want to live there," he said.

Olson said he wanted to reiterate an earlier point initially made by Trustee Ken McGowan.

"I think I'm going to reiterate what Mr. McGowan said. When election time comes, you need to really, really think about who we are electing. These problems are created out of Albany," Olson said.

Board taking action

Mayor Greg Paquin took time to assure residents that the board was taking action, saying they were heading back to court with Verkade to condemn and seize the property.

"I wish, guys, I wish I could snap my fingers and make it better. I really do. But it's going to take some time and it has to play out in the courts," Paquin said.

Paquin confirmed the board is moving forward with nuisance property litigation after Verkade failed to live up to a previous settlement agreement.

"So, the village board is going to start a nuisance property litigation. "We came to an agreement with the owner. He promised certain things in the settlement agreement, and for roughly three months it worked. It's not working anymore. We are going to reinstitute the litigation against the owner for a nuisance property. And in doing that, it's a process. We're going through the courts. So anyone that's dealt with the courts, you know it's going to take some time in the end," Paquin said.

Paquin said if the village were successful the village would assume control of the property and shut it down.

"Then it would be boarded up, and then at some point, unfortunately, as Ken has pointed out before, it would fall on the taxpayers of the village to tear it down. But ultimately, that's the end goal, and there's not going to be a settlement. This is going to the end of it, win or lose," Paquin said.

Paquin said in the meantime, any complaints should be forwarded to the police department to ensure the information can be used in the village's lawsuit.

He said police will continue to respond to calls and heavily patrol the area, as they have been for some time.

A review of the village code is also in the works, according to Paquin.

"Our code was written about 20 to 30 years ago, where if someone didn't mow their lawn, we'd send a letter and the next day it was mowed. That doesn't happen. Our code needs to be overhauled, in the sense that it needs to be overhauled in terms of what we can do punitively towards a repeat offender status," Paquin said.

Paquin said McGowan and Deputy Mayor Chad Simpson would be working with a committee that would likely include local landlords as well to find a common solution to the existing village code.

"I wish I could snap my fingers and take possession of that property today. But I promise you, I don't want a board with that type of power. You don't want this board to have that power. You don't want a future board to have that power. There's a process, and we're going to follow all I can ask everybody else is, continue to be vigilant. Continue to be safe. If there's a problem, call the police department," Paquin said.