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Williamstown Board Presses Park Managers on Repairs

By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
04:00AM / Thursday, December 09, 2010

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Park managers Richard and Kim Purcelli confer during a meeting of the Mobile Home Rent Control Board. Attorney Robert Kraus, representing Morgan Management, and Morgan CFO Larry Hill are at right.

Rent control Chairman Jack Nogueira, left, and board member John Lucyznski quizzed park managers on how they had fulfilled repair agreements made years ago.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A rental increase at Spruces Mobile Home Park may hinge on who's responsible for the cost of a $468,000 water-line replacement — the park owners or the residents.

Morgan Management, the company managing the park, says the new water lines are a long-term capital improvement to benefit park residents; the tenants claim the project was prompted by orders from the town and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The claims and counterclaims — along with some seemingly incriminating inspection letters — led Mobile Home Rent Control Board Chairman Jack Nogueira to suggest the tenants association consider hiring an attorney.

"These opened our eyes to a lot of things we were not aware of," said Nogueira on Wednesday night, adding he didn't think the board was qualified to address some of the legal issues. "The [Spruces Tenants Association] should get together to decide if they want an attorney or to go on without legal representation."

Morgan is seeking a rent increase to about $377, down from its original request of $409, but still $100 more than the current rate. It would be the first increase since Morgan bought the 226-lot park in 2002.

Nearly 100 residents packed into the park's bedecked recreation hall for the third continuance of the Mobile Home Rent Control Board's hearing on the matter. But there was little holiday cheer.

For two hours, the tenants' association, Morgan representatives and the board offered competing interpretations of letters, meeting minutes, timelines and definitions of "repair" and "replacement" dating back through three association presidents, past board members and two separate plumbing inspectors. The audience grew louder in response to Morgan officials' statements and Nogueira at one point had to gavel for silence after one elderly gentleman loudly exhorted park management to "man up."

Morgan has submitted more than a 1,000 pages of documents detailing why it should get an increase but came under fire because of the handful of inspection letters submitted by the tenants association. According to state law, Morgan could seek recompense for long-term capital improvements but not for fixing or upgrading for code violations. The tenants say the letters citing violations prove Morgan was ordered to fix the pipes as a safety violation, which would alleviate the renters from shouldering the burden and also claim the work was done improperly.

Attorney Robert Kraus, however, said one letter from the DEP referred to a bad pressure valve leading into the park that needed to be replaced (and which, he said, prompted the decision to invest in replacing the 40-year-old lines to 151 lots); the other violations cited by the town referred to whether a hanger should be installed under the trailers to hold the water pipe off the ground or addressed electrical receptacles used for for pipe heating tape.

Tenants Association President Cynthia Clermont-Rebello said the association would seek legal counsel.

"There are no cited violations or orders to do any work," said Kraus, who was flanked by Chief Financial Officer Larry Hill and park manager Richard Purcelli.

"It's right here in black and white — you fell below the code," said board member John Luczynski, holding up a letter from Michael Card, director of inspection services.

Kraus and park manager Richard Purcelli said those letters were sent to residents who are responsible for the electrical receptacles on their mobile homes for heating tape; Purcelli said some tenants were using extension cords.

"Morgan Management took a leap of faith that we would do this work and then come back and seek recompense," said Kraus, pointing to correspondence and meeting minutes dating from 2003 that showed the tenants agreeing to the project. Nogueira, who was on the rent board at the time, said minutes from 2004 state there shall be no increase until the water lines are replaced and the roads repaired.

"Here we are," said Kraus, who added the roads had been repaired, eliciting a groan from the crowd.

Nogueira said he planned to go "into the vault" to pull out minutes from past meetings to determine what had been agreed upon, particularly whether the roads were to be "replaced" or "repaired." Board member Cheryl Shanks asked if Morgan could produce something in writing from the town's plumbing inspector ensuring the work was correctly done; Kraus and Purcelli said the issue of installing "hangers" was still up in the air but they would see how they could comply. The tests required were done by the contractor and supplied to the board.

Nogueira had orders for park management and the tenants assocation board before the next meeting: "I want you guys to walk through the park and I want both sides to tell us the condition of the park."

The board will next meet on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2011, at the Spruces recreation hall. Wednesday night's meeting was taped for play on Willinet.

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