The Carson City Board of Supervisors voted during its meeting on Thursday to revoke the business license of the owner of the Frontier Motel in Carson City.
The Frontier Motel business license is held under the corporate name of Five Star Motel LLC, which lists two executive members, Balwinder Thind and Harbans Handa. Handa reappeared before the board Thursday to argue that his business license should not be revoked as there has been a lot of work going on at the motel since he first appeared at the April 15 meeting.
City inspectors found that many rooms were infested with mice, rodent feces, bed bugs, structural flaws, improper construction, exposed electrical cables, rooms with no hot water or toilets that could be flushed, unsecured doors, broken windows, and general trash in the rooms.
Seven of the 56 rooms on the property were closed immediately after the inspection for unsafe living conditions, including the potential hantavirus threat from infestation.
The rest of the facility closed shortly thereafter, with residents given 24-hour notice, and has since closed while work on the property continues.
According to Handa, they have hired contractors to remove the “rubbish” from the property. You have hired general contractors to fix problems with the building. They hired pest control to spray and fumigate bed bugs, lice, and other pest problems, and they hired night security guards to monitor the property.
Handa also stated that they are working on designing new sidewalks and a new parking lot for the premises.
“We are working room by room to produce electricity, plumbing and hot water as required, and all rooms will have a new bed,” said Handa.
Handa argued that they are the only inexpensive motel in town and have lived there for many of the residents for years with no other destination.
“This is their home,” said Handa. “Many of them are seniors. Some people get very low benefits, only $ 600 a month, and what can they get for $ 600 a month? We charge $ 500 a month and let the $ 100 spend on yourself. We help them get meals on wheels so they can have at least one good meal a day. They really appreciated what we did for them. “
Handa said that most of the residents are now homeless and he sees them walking on the streets with nowhere to go.
“We know there have been some problems and we are addressing them now,” said Handa. “At the same time, we submitted an application to the city to extend the time it took to deal with all problems.”
Supervisor Stan Jones has argued with Handa about the conditions people had to live in at the Frontier Motel.
“I have a hard time understanding how you can allow people to live in the conditions that you did for the amount of time you did,” Jones said. “I have compassion for the people who had to live there. The way I feel, you haven’t addressed how you’re going to take care of it and until you do I believe your license should be revoked. ”
Supervisor Mo White repeated this feeling. “I see on your list that you are doing a lot of work, a lot of work that should have been done before,” White said. “Why did you wait for your company to be evacuated to resolve these issues?”
Handa said that due to COVID-19 restrictions, they were unable to know the conditions of the premises as some tenants could not be kicked out.
“This place has been a dump for years and you haven’t brought it up,” White said. “You made these people live in misery.”
Handa said that the city made a list of suggestions for improvement in 2019 but could not be improved in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Handa also stated that some renters were okay with the bed bugs and other issues in the rooms.
“Some people said to us, ‘Okay, let’s take care of the bedbugs,’ and they said, ‘No, it’s okay that they don’t bother us,” said Handa.
This is in direct contradiction to what Handa said in April that the owners and management had no idea that one of the rooms was having bed bugs, cockroaches, mice or other problems because tenants hadn’t complained.
Regulatory authority Lisa Schuette said that while she appreciated the great need for very low-income apartments in our community, it was also the responsibility of the owners to provide their tenants with safe space.
“If you take on this very low-income population, although I appreciate this being their home, you also take responsibility for providing humane and decent conditions, including running water, warm water, and flushing toilets, that are free from bed bugs and rodents and that there is no crime on the property, ”said Schuette.
Handa stated that the property was “in other hands” up to this point, but that he now takes responsibility for the property.
“Trust me, I’ve hired people to help and if you see a problem you can call me,” said Handa. “It was in different hands, but I’m taking ownership right now and you will see that. I want to clean up this place. That’s why I told the sheriff last night that we’d hired security. ”
Supervisor Stacey Giomi stated that although he was glad to hear that Handa was taking responsibility, he was not convinced of his reasoning.
“Glad to hear you say you are taking over the property,” said Giomi. “Maybe the eviction would have gone differently if some of the things on this list hadn’t looked like her. I dont know. I don’t find the argument convincing that you are the only option to live and in return people have to come to terms with what they have had to endure. I don’t think you have invested in the property like you should have over the years. ”
The board of directors decided on Thursday to revoke the business license instead of suspending it, which will let the owners know how quickly to get the job done. Once they do, they can reapply for the business license.
Mayor Lori Bagwell asked for a condition that Handa will return to the board of directors before approving the new business license to explain what they have done to complete the property improvements.
“I want to believe you,” said Bagwell. “I think everyone who comes here and testifies. I think you mean business and you will. Maybe you will be the shining star in the end. Maybe in six months you can be the beacon for the community. I know it seems tough (to revoke the license), but I don’t know of any other way to make all parties understand the rules of the game. “
The Frontier Motel business license has been revoked with immediate effect and owners can reapply once they have completed the list of required improvements to the property they have promised.
