City of Somerville wants $138K from 240 Elm St. landlord before bfresh grocery can open

[ron_newman]

from Wicked Local/Somerville Journal:
Somerville officials demand $138K in labor costs after collapse before grocery moves into 240 Elm St

mayoral spokeswoman Jackie Rossetti told the Journal officials have sent Argiros numerous other invoices seeking an additional $138,044.14 for city-labor related expenses surrounding the building between July 22, 2015 and March 3. She said city officials will hold the building’s certificate of occupancy until they receive the payment.
Work cited in the invoices include fire and police detail, DPW labor, material, and overtime costs, inspectional services overtime, and traffic and parking meter and overtime expenses, with traffic and parking payments alone costing more than $75,000.

Comments

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

yes, to be sure, i meant the reason we can't have nice things in this case is the building owner, not the city. i do think the city should be paid for the extra services they provided that were directly related to the building not being properly maintained, and then taking much longer than expected to repair. Someone should pay for it, and i think the building owner should be that person. Given that the building owner hasn't been motivated to do much so far, i'm not hopeful that he will do it, though.