BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA -- Code Enforcement officers in the village of Massena are handling roughly 700 calls on average each month, a case load that is nearly ten times what the department was seeing two decades ago.

According to Code Enforcement Officer Aaron Hardy, the department has remained relatively the same since the late 1990's, with the same manpower.

During a recent village board meeting, Hardy informed village board members the department handled roughly 88 calls per year 20 years ago with the same man power.

He said one of the largest differences is the timeliness of residents responding to code violations.

"Years ago, if we had an issue with someone who may have not mowed their yard or had trash or debris that needed to be picked up, we'd write up a violation and the next day we'd get a call apologizing. It would be taken care of. These days, it's not like that anymore. A number of times we have to follow up and continue further along with the process," Hardy told NCTW recently.

Village officials say they are aware of the workload the department is under and hope to address staffing in the near future.

According to Hardy, the department is currently staffed by seven officers who also do double duty as permanent firefighters as well.

“One of the biggest parts of our discussion is workload and staffing. I think that we’re planning to address it here in the near future,” Deputy Mayor Chad Simpson said.

One of the primary reasons village officials hope to address staffing in the future is due in large part to rundown and dilapidated properties that take up significant amounts of time for the department.

Trustee Ken McGowan commented that the severity of issues has also increased in recent years, with many code violations revolving around "simple matters" like lawns. Now, the Code Enforcement Department is stepping in to tackle much larger, more complex issues, he said.

One such issue is finding current property owners' contact information, Hardy said.

Earlier this year, village officials implemented a landlord registry in an effort to gather contact information from rental property owners and managers to ensure code enforcement will be able to conduct fire inspections or rectify code violations.

That move was met with support from many local landlords and residents who said they wanted the village to crack down on "absentee landlords" who did not live in the North Country.

In some cases, Hardy said it has been difficult to track down the owner of some properties that are in violation of village code.

It is much the same for the town of Massena and its Code Enforcement Officer Pat O'Brien who recently said he was also attempting to track down owners on a handful of abandoned properties.

According to Hardy, the village landlord registry currently has 255 rental units registered, 56% of which are owned by out of town landlords.

McGowan suggested that the reason so many properties are owned by out of town landlords is due to the cheap real estate when compared to other areas of the country.

“The property’s cheap here. ‘Oh, I live in California. I’m going to buy this property and I’ll never come here. But, I’m going to make some money and if I don’t, whatever, I’m going to sell it,’” McGowan said.

McGowan went on further, saying it may be time to look into empowering police officers with code enforcement rights to address some of the issues in the village.

He said similar powers have been bestowed on officers like his brother-in-law in California.

“He’s a police officer in California and he’s a lieutenant. For him to be a lieutenant, he had to become a code enforcement officer. I don’t know if that’s where we have to go with this. But, he goes, ‘We’re out and we’re doing it all,’” he said.

While it is not the first option village officials are exploring, Chief of Police Jason Olson said the department could possibly take on the task if village officials want to go that route.

He commented that west coast police departments many times have a code division to handle such matters.

Olson said the department could do it if the officers were to go through the civil service exam but clarified that the exam would have to be titled properly in order to work.

The idea of expanding the Code Enforcement Department is one that comes as the village took action on multiple properties recently, including 18 Park Ave., 31, 33 Pine St. and 21 Tamarack St.

Village of Massena Code Enforcement officials have shut down the property located at 18 Park Avenue after deeming it unfit for human occupancy during a recent fire code inspection.

Hardy confirmed the department was able to conduct a fire inspection in accordance with village regulations for rental properties last week, leading to the property being shut down.

Hardy told North Country This Week the property was found to be in violation of a number of State Fire Code and local property codes, including violations for unsafe living conditions and unsafe devices in the home, among others.

According to State Fire Code, unsafe devices can range from unsafe furnaces and boilers, to faulty electrical wiring, unsafe stairs and various other safety hazards.

In the case of 31, 33 Park St. and 21 Tamarack St., village officials are taking action to ensure the building does not pose a hazard to the public.

The properties, owned by Down Family Revocable Trust, are in an advanced state of disrepair, according to Bean. He said they may constitute a danger to nearby properties and to the public’s safety due to the proximity of the structures to the sidewalk and street.

“It’s unknown if the place is occupied. I tried to establish that. We’ve got no contact from the owners. The owner of the property has yet to reach out to our office or remedy any of the issues,” Code Enforcement Officer Walter Bean said.

One of the large issues with the structure is the porch, which Bean said is collapsing.

Under the village code, property owners are meant to maintain the exterior of the property, from paint and siding to the actual physical structural integrity. Bean said the property owners have failed to do so, leading to the porch and front roof assembly beginning to collapse right near the sidewalk and street.

He said for that reason the village must take action on the property to ensure public safety.

Mayor Greg Paquin has signaled in recent meetings that the village is going to start playing hardball with rental property owners in violation of village code, a sentiment echoed by McGowan Aug. 20.

“This is what we’re going to do. We’re not going to play games anymore. The police department doesn’t have time. The fire department doesn’t have time. If you’re going to be a good neighbor, be a good neighbor. If not, oh well, get your checkbook out,” McGowan said.