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GREENFORD -- Fire Chief Todd Baird said he's not kidding around about filing charges on the owner of the Greenford Bobcat Space Center at 7600 W. South Range Road.
Years ago, the building housed the Greenford Elementary School and has been home to a number of commercial efforts including office space for start-ups, and rental space since.
Baird said he was "still dealing" with it, noting there are 18 fire code violations and "people sleeping" in it.
With the living quarters in the building, Baird said, "Zoning and I need to go there."
Zoning Officer Bill Pitts said, "People are not allowed to sleep in the building."
The building was purchased by Able Talent Academy LLC in Ridgewood, N.J. in March of 2017, according to Mahoning County auditor records.
During Tuesday's trustee meeting, Baird said, "There are obvious fire code violations … the guy made no effort … and thought I was kidding."
He added he was prepared to take action, noting, "The people living there know it will happen."
The fire alarm system is operational after being out of order, but Baird said a there is a hood system (over a cooking area) "that either gets fixed or it will be vacated."
Each fire code violation carries a $1,000 fine, he said, adding "18 violations have been written and he's already had two extensions. So this week I'm going to go back up there and deal with it."
There are also a couple of houses the department needed to address, Baird said, one on state Route 14 where "you can walk right in it."
In other fire department business, Baird said there were 426 calls in 2017, more than the previous high years of 2013 and 2015 when there were 387 calls.
There were 275 medical contacts, 96 where mutual aid was provided and 36 with mutual aid being received.
Also, Baird said he applied for a state grant for $10,000 for 25 helmets along with $3,000 for hoods.
He explained a federal emergency management agency (FEMA) grant application was about 54 percent completed.
In other business, Goshen Police District Chief Steve McDaniel presented his department's annual report and noted that burglaries and break-ins were down and OVIs were down.
"The big thing is OVIs are down," he said, adding people are "using Uber."
There was one breaking and entering and one burglary, McDaniel said.
"That's great," he said, adding there are a lot of burglaries in other areas of Mahoning County.
Vehicle crashes were also "way down," he said adding that was a good thing.
The report listed two incidents of overdose, but he said, "I know we had more that could have been suicide attempts."
Police vehicles logged a total of 79,783 miles in Green Township in 2017 and McDaniel said he was sure it was more but "this is figured the best we could."
lshields@salemnews.net