TOWN OF PAMELIA, New York (WWNY) – Fire, flooding, and now frozen pipes. For the tenants of the Hotis Motel, the month of February has brought all three to the foot of their doorsteps. On Wednesday, we showed you the current living conditions and, if you’re asking how people can live there with no running water, you’re not alone.
It turns out the 20 tenants may actually want to live there. Hung on many of the doorways are signs that say “keep out,” “don’t knock,” or “go away.”
One Jefferson County official says February rents have been paid and people there are happy having a roof over their heads. For more than a week now, Hotis tenants have been without running water due to a broken pipe in the basement, discovered last week by town officials.
It was flooding the basement, so the town of Pamelia shut the water off. It left in nearly five feet of ice in the motel basement, which means any repairs can’t be made right now.
The problems aren’t isolated in the basement. Several other code violations were discovered by an independent agency out of Rochester.
We reached out to Pamelia Town Supervisor Scott Allen about what the next steps would be to improve conditions at the motel, or how long it’ll take for it to be condemned. Allen did not get back to us.
Jefferson County Administrator Bob Hagemann said there could be a two-week window before any action can be taken.
He also also confirms a majority of the tenants are not currently receiving any help from the Department of Social Services. They are choosing to stay with no water.
To help a little, the town brought in two portable toilets.
According to Jefferson County property records, the property is owned by Empire Assets Growth LP out of Brooklyn.
It has been difficult to find any additional contact information about the company in order to ask questions, including how long do people have to live in these conditions?
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