Ogdensburg council members call housing rehab work substandard

As the city of Ogdensburg tries to get its houses in order, it is finding knicks in the woodwork.

City Council members are complaining about the quality of work done on city-owned property rehabilitated by the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

The program used $650,000 in state and federal funding to rehabilitate and demolish city-owned houses in hopes of selling the properties and return them to the tax rolls. Now they are expressing displeasure with some of the work done by contractors on the houses.

James A. O’Neill, president of C. W. Augustine, DeKalb Junction, the firm administering the city’s housing program, told council members one property at 2 Grove St., a tiny house on a steep hill overlooking the Oswegatchie River, was not surveyed before it was rehabilitated. As a result, the house has no driveway.

“You can’t park your car on the property,” said Councilman Wayne L. Ashley. “You have to park your car on the street. You would have to almost take a bulldozer to make a driveway.”

At another Neighborhood Stabilization Program house at 819 Knox St., which has been the center of controversy since it was reported that a family had lived there three years without paying rent or taxes, council members have complained that the work was substandard.

“There is a world of difference depending on the contractor,” said Deputy Mayor Michael D. Morley. “The work done on 113 Adams Avenue was really good work. The work done on 2 Grove Street was very good work. The work done on 819 Knox Street was not up to the standards of the other two.”

The Knox Street house was renovated by a different contractor, Wayne A. Latham. Mr. Latham declined to comment on his work Wednesday, but other council members agreed with Mr. Morley.

“I went and visited with the people who live at 819 and they showed me their house,” said Councilman Daniel E. Skamperle. “They were pleased with some work, disappointed that other things weren’t done.”

Mr. Skamperle said he is a contractor, so perhaps work wasn’t up to his personal standard.

“I think that more could have been done in terms of lathe and sheetrock,” he said. “I thought the paint job was substandard on the house, and maybe the porch could have been better, but that is my opinion.”

Mr. Morley added to the laundry list of problems with the rehabilitation work.

“The windows that were caulked, I can’t imagine who was paying for it,” he said. “I know the person interested in buying the house is complaining to me that he has 15 to 16 floor jacks in the cellar, so many he can barely walk down there. The cellar is useless to him now.”

Mr. Ashley said he couldn’t believe the work reflected the amount spent on the house.

“It is hard for me to believe that they spent $88,000 on that house,” he said. “They never even replaced the front or rear entrance door.”

Council members have previously balked at the amount spent on both houses, with almost one-third of the $650,000 total funding going to just 2 Grove St. and 819 Knox St.

“The work on the house on Adams Avenue is incomplete. Maybe some of that money could have been used to complete that part of it,” said Mayor William D. Nelson.

Mr. Morley said that the ground floor of house at 113 Adams Ave. has been rehabilitated, but substantial work remains on the top floor.

To prevent substandard work in the future, Mr. Morley said the city could take responsibility for inspecting the work.

“We need to do our own inspection, use our own building inspector,” he said. “You have to make sure the work is done up to par. I wouldn’t accept the work, and I want them to buy the house.”

Inspection is currently handled by C.W. Augustine.

Councilwoman Jennifer Stevenson would not comment on the quality of the work before she toured the houses. She said she expects to tour the properties today.