The December 15 meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen featured a two-hour hearing to determine whether or not the license for the Hillside Motel should be revoked.
Owner Sonya Patel came before the board to discuss improvements and changes she was instructed by various town departments to make, but after hearing from those department heads, it was clear that very little has been done.
Police Chief Mary Lyons said that an alarming number of calls to the motel in 2015 forced her to ask the selectmen to look into the business. She said that over 100 police department responses had been made for such crimes as drug possession and sale, prostitution, strangulation, possession of stolen goods, illegal firearms and more.
Building Inspector Andy Bobola said, “One room, the sub-floor is rotten and you can see into the basement…” He also noted rotten stair rails, missing electrical cover plates, overloaded electrical circuits, bathroom floors rotten, and missing room numbers. But clearly it was the living conditions that troubled him the most.
“One room there are four adults living … very difficult to walk into,” he said. Bobola also noted clothing stacked on floors and against gas heaters causing him to say, “What should be common sense to most of us was evident.”
Mattapoisett Fire Chief Andrew Murray said that during his quarterly inspection, he always found fire and carbon monoxide detectors missing and fire extinguishers absent or expired.
The Board of Health conscripted expert assistance in evaluating the conditions at the motel by bringing in Wareham’s Health Agent Robert Ethier. He explained that, although the Hillside met the “minimal standards of fitness for human habitation,” four people in one room was a violation of the sanitary code and “deplorable,” saying, “They can’t stay there.”
For her part, Patel pleaded that she couldn’t tell who was a good person or a bad person and wanted to rely on the assistance of the police department to tell her. More than once she was told by each member of the board and by Town Administrator Michael Gagne that she was responsible for managing her business properly; it was not the responsibility of the town’s departments.
“It comes down to management,” Selectman Jordon Collyer said with exasperation after nearly two hours of discussions. He expressed the public outcry that her motel was viewed as “a problem for the town.”
With Selectman Paul Silva voting ‘nay’ to allow Patel another chance to clean up her business, the board moved for a continuation until January 12. If at any time between now and then the police are called to the business, the board reserved the right to revoke her license.
“I hope you prove me wrong,” Silva told Patel. “I don’t have much tolerance to keep this site open.”
Earlier in the evening, the board met with Marilyn Mazer who gifted the town with prints from watercolor paintings her husband Michael Mazer has done to memorialize the Bouchard Spill in Mattapoisett. The prints will hang in the harbormaster’s office.
A certificate of appreciation was award to Chris Parker for saving a capsized boater in Mattapoisett harbor in November.
Bonne DeSousa discussed the upcoming Regional Cycling Event planned for May 22, an event that will be in partnership with the Mattapoisett Land Trust.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen in scheduled for January 12 at 7:00 pm in the town hall conference room.
By Marilou Newell
