Most of Monday’s nearly two-hour Warsaw Code Enforcement hearing was spent discussing The Economy Inn, 3521 Lake City Highway, and whether it should be demolished or repaired.

The city was in favor of demolishing it, while Jay Patel, the sole stakeholder in Hari Om Inc., the company that owns it, wants to fix it up.

In making his decision, Hearing Officer Lawrence Clifford decided to inspect the property himself at 3:30 p.m. Monday. He ordered that there shall be no occupancy of the second floor effective noon Thursday and reset the hearing on the property for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 21.

Patel said Hari Om Inc., then owned by his brother, filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and came out of bankruptcy in 2014 after he bought the company, paid off its debt and refinanced it.

Warsaw Building Commissioner Ray Behring said he inspected the property and found the front canopy on the front of the motel was severely deteriorating. It has severe cracks and is leaning, and “we feel the front area needs to be taken down.”

The city may seek to have it removed after Clifford inspected it.

Another major issue, Behling said, is that the second-floor balcony walkways’ guardrails are “compromised.” Support columns in the front and back are “severely cracking.”

The health department is investigating an oil spill in the back parking lot, which Patel said was cleaned up and the health department attributed it to a vehicle losing oil. Behling estimated the spill encompassed an area of about 75 feet by 75 feet.

A list of code violations was made June 8 on the motel, which Patel later said were mostly fixed.

Behling estimated the cost of repairs to the 69-room motel were $350,000 to $400,000, while demolition would be $85,000 to $100,000. Patel and his attorney, Dan Vanderpool, along with some building contractors they had with them at the meeting, estimated they’ve already spent about $100,000 over the past two years fixing the motel up and could finish the repairs with around $60,000.

In another hearing, after giving Faviola Duran about five additional months to fix up her property at 519 N. Park Ave., Clifford ordered it demolished Monday.

Behling said he met with Duran’s father recently and reminded him of the meeting Monday, but no one representing Duran attended the hearing. Behling also reported no work had started on the property. Driving past the property and taking photos, he said the house has definitely shifted.

A neighbor, Lauran Sattler, 515 N. Park Ave., told Clifford, “It was an unfortunate situation that these people bought the house. The house was already had many violations when it was sold to them. I feel very bad for them. However, it’s 21 months now and they had a electrical box installed. They dropped off a pontoon boat ... into the back yard and that’s the entire progress in 21 months. It’s a terrible eyesore. It’s bad for my property values, it’s bad for the whole neighborhood, and on Friday a U-Haul pulled up and they brought boxes of furniture in.”

Behling said that was the first time he heard about furniture being moved in.

Clifford said the case was originally a demolition order in February, but he modified it with dates so Duran would have time to fix it up. Behling said the property is still vacant and secured, but no permits have been taken out on it.

Behling originally estimated the cost of fixing the property up to be in the $25,000 to $30,000 range, with cost of demolition at about $8,000. He said the city wants to see the property demolished.

Clifford said Duran had every opportunity to make repairs and failed to do so, the cost of repairs exceeded demolition costs, so he affirmed his original order to require demolition of the structure.

The last case on the agenda was for property at 900 Country Club Road, owned by Joshua Finch, who did not attend Monday’s meeting.

Behling said the residence is a pole barn with the living quarters on the second floor and the garage on the first, but about five things need repaired but haven’t been fixed yet. Behling said he’s contacted Finch and had meetings out there with him, but Finch hasn’t gotten back to him. He sent Finch a letter to contact him, but Finch failed to reply.

The list of code violations dated Jan. 27, according to Behling, included: use correct fire caulk in garage around penetrations, windows do not meet egress in bedrooms,  fire dampeners are required in garage ceiling and he needs to install as required 100 feet of hard surface driveway.

Clifford found Finch to be in default and  there was no indication of compliance. He affirmed his prior order to acquire completion of all repairs by Monday’s date and imposed a civil penalty of $2,500 effectively immediately. He also reset the hearing on the property for Aug. 21