Woolson block has a long history of violations

The Woolson Block has had numerous fire safety violations the entire time landlord E.J. Cully has owned the historic downtown structure, but the violations have not risen to the level where it is an unsafe place to live, the regional fire marshal said Tuesday.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20151118/NEWS02/151119535

Published November 18, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Woolson block has a long history of violations By SUSAN smallheer Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — The Woolson Block has had numerous fire safety violations the entire time landlord E.J. Cully has owned the historic downtown structure, but the violations have not risen to the level where it is an unsafe place to live, the regional fire marshal said Tuesday. “We’ve had a long history of inspections of the building and we’ve documented issues over the years. It got to the point that not enough progress was being made,” said Bruce Martin, regional manager of the state’s fire safety office. Martin said he wasn’t pleased by Cully boarding up the vacant storefronts in the building, with spray-painted messages blaming the eyesore on Martin. “I would take issue,” Martin said Tuesday. Cully, a Killington resident who runs Maya Papaya CSA and is also a Rutland City landlord, said he put up the plywood to draw attention to what he said was unresponsiveness from state inspectors. He said their lack of action threatened the status of his tenants. Martin said that only four apartments are occupied on the third floor of the Woolson Block, but he said the state was not ready to shut the building down. The second floor is gutted and not suitable for anyone living there, Martin said. Cully did renovate the third floor apartments when he bought the building eight years ago, Martin said, but he hasn’t completed other needed upgrades. “I think the inspection history speaks for itself,” said Martin, who stressed that the state inspectors had not threatened to move out the third-floor tenants.. Martin last inspected the building on Nov. 2, but was denied access to the building’s third floor, where the apartments are located. It was a follow-up to an inspection on July 24. Martin wrote that there were 10 violations, rising to “level 3.” He gave Cully until Dec. 10 to resolve the violations, which ranged from too many extension cords in use, lack of progress on rewiring the building, lack of fire-detection devices on the first floor, and wooden partitions not removed in the basement, adding to the “fire load.” Martin noted that progress had been made removing the books in storage in the basement, as well as upholstered furniture, which also presented an unacceptable fire load in the basement. An inspection in November 2013 found 20 violations in the building, also Level 3. Again the overuse of extension cords, the lack of fire extinguishers, lack of a boiler inspection, and gas cans present in the basement, were among the problems noted. Emergency lights were not working, and the fire alarm system needed inspection, Martin noted. He said he had sent the Woolson Block inspection reports to the Springfield Housing Authority, which had requested them. The authority, along with Housing Vermont, bought the Woolson Block at a tax sale in August, but Cully has until August 2016 to redeem his building and pay his overdue property taxes. Cully said Monday he plans to pay the tax bill. Bill Morlock, executive director of the Springfield Housing Authority, said Tuesday the authority is still hoping to buy the block from Cully, but there is no progress in negotiations. He said he had requested the state inspection reports, since they were public record. He said the authority would not let any of its Section 8 tenants move into the Woolson Block because of all the state safety violations. Otherwise, he said, the authority does not control where people with housing vouchers live. Morlock said he believes only one of the Woolson block tenants has a housing voucher from the Vermont State Housing Authority. Efforts to reach the state authority were unsuccessful Tuesday.