WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Friday marked another day – the fifth – that residents of 661 Factory Street in Watertown are living outside.
And that won’t change any time soon.
“It looks to me that this is going to be a longer term issue,” Tim Ruetten, Jefferson County’s Director of Community Services, told 7 News Friday.
The ramshackle apartment building was condemned by city codes officials Sunday, because the fire alarm system wasn’t working.
The fire alarm system has been fixed, but a host of other issues like electrical, plumbing, and pests still need to be taken care of.
Tenants were hustled out of the building with no notice and have, for the most part, been sleeping outdoors since. Jefferson County government and the community has rallied, dropping off supplies, putting up tents, making sure the basics are at least temporarily covered.
“The supplies have come in in such numbers that we’re running into a surplus. I would much rather have too much than not enough,” Ruetten said.
“Basic survival and health was kind of what we were looking at this week. Next week we really have to focus on, like I said, finding those permanent placements.”
661 Factory has made painfully obvious that in the city of Watertown and Jefferson County there is just not enough housing available for poor people, and homelessness – while seldom as obvious as it is on Factory Street – is a very real problem.
The city of Watertown fire department responded to an alarm at the apartment house Sunday, which led to discovering the alarm system wasn’t working, forcing nearly 40 people out of the building.
“It’s a typical process for us, when we often find ourselves in situation where we have people that need emergency housing. But this was different,” said Fire Chief Matt Timerman.
Typically for a house fire or natural disaster, agencies like the Red Cross step in to help. But a condemned building isn’t either of those things.
“We’re standing there with the people who have the need, but we can’t find them the proper resource,” he said.
Ruetten says behind the scenes, the county is working with agencies like the Department of Social Services to provide these tenants with housing by next week.
“That work is certainly being done in other places. This is just one piece of the puzzle,” he said.
As for when 661 Factory will be ready to reopen, legislature chair Scott Gray says he’s been in touch with the owner to figure out a timeline, but hasn’t gotten an answer.
Gray says he made it clear the county needs an answer.
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