Following inspections completed in early April by the Mahoning County Building Department and the Boardman Fire Department, the Wagon Wheel Motel, 7015 Market St., has been ordered to make structural repairs, or it could be closed down.
      If repairs are not made, the motel’s occupancy permit could be revoked, Boardman Fire Chief Mark Pitzer said this week.
      The fire chief said the roof on the motel is deteriorating and could pose a safety issue to the public, or to fire-fighters who could be could called there in an emergency situation.
      Jeffrey Uroseva, chief building official of the Mahoning County Building Inspection Department, said a portion of facia at the motel is rotted and deteriorating and ordered Akm and Nasrin Rahman, of 29 Overhill Rd., 30 days to “secure walkways, driveways and entrances where structural deterioration is evident so the public is not in any danger, submit engineered or architectural plans for approval for any needed structural repairs, as well as obtain all required inspections.”
      The Rahmans were ordered to complete the work by Fri., May 3.
      An inspection completed by Boardman Fire Department Lt. William Ferrando Jr. said that interior walls and floors at the motel are deteriorating, and there is no operational fire alarm system and sprinkler system, and that housekeeping is rated as “poor.”
      Ferrando’s evaluation form listed the owner of the motel at Chirag Enterprises LLC.
      According to records obtained by The Boardman News, the Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of the State Fire Marshal, has inspected the motel no less than 44 times since 2011, including reinspections to determine if violations had been corrected.
      Inspections
      On Dec. 21, 2011, Inspector Bryant Tierney, of the Ohio Dept. of Commerce (ODC) reported he completed his annual inspection at the Wagon Wheel Motel where found 19 violations that were not corrected within 14 days.
      The Wagon Wheel was ordered to remove any and all combustible waste accumulation from “within building, on the buildings or on the premises,” most notably under awnings.
      In four rooms of the 21-room motel, Tierney said “The bedding (mattresses/box springs) and bed linens...are dirty and stained with unknown substance and are generally in unsanitary condition.” He also noted that extension cords were being used as a substitute for permanent wiring and ordered that practice to stop.
      The citations noted in Tierney’s Dec. 21, 2011 report had been corrected by Jan. 23, 2012, according to the state inspector.
      Tierney again gave the Wagon Wheel an annual inspection in Oct. 2012, at which time he said the pillow cases in one room were unsanitary; and as well cited several potential fire code violations.
      Tierney also advised “No guest shall be permitted to stay in a guestroom for more than 30 days. Anyone that is not compliant to this rule shall be made to meet this requirement. Within seven days, that requirement had not been met,” adding that “corrections were made by Oct. 25, 2012.”
      The Wagon Wheel’s 2013 annual report says four fire alarms systems failed to function properly, and that issue was corrected.
      The ODC’s 2014 annual report, conducted in October, cited five violations that went uncorrected, including electric motors and appliances that were not maintained free from excessive accumulations of debris, non-maintenance of fire extinguishers, lack of a guest registry, and failure of new ownership to renew the motel’s license. Those issues were eventually corrected, according to ODC records.
      In June, 2015, Tierney made an annual inspection at the Wagon Wheel, finding 14 violations, including dirty pillows and curtains, use of one room for a manager’s apartment, electrical hazards, improper use of extension cords,, paint peeling on outside windows, a hole in the ceiling of one room, deteriorating wood, unclear and non-current records, a hole in a wall of a bathroom where a wall bowed-in “drastically” next to the toilet, and excessive accumulation of brush outside the building.
      Tierney again told the Wagon Wheel that “no guest shall be permitted to stay in a guestroom for more than 30 days,” noting “In room #16, Donald Timlin advised me he has been here for three months already.”
      In June, 2016, Tierney said he was at the Wagon Wheel for an inspection and found a heavily-soiled carpet in one room, and checked three rooms for bed bugs, reporting he found a single dead bed bug in one room.
      Tierney was back at the motel in Aug., 2016 and noted a requirement that all bedding, carpets, linen and equipment had not been kept in a sanitary condition as required by the Ohio Revised Code. Tierney said a wall was moldy in one room and in another room, where a bed bug was located, the occupant of the room did not complain, but “the owner is moving the guest immediately.” By Dec. 19, 2016, Tierney said the issues in the two rooms still had not been corrected.
      Tierney returned to the motel in late Apr., 2017 on two complaints about bed bugs.
      He said on Apr. 14, 2017, a female identified as Ms. Anderson, stayed in room #14 and said she observed three or four live bed bugs.
      “She decided not to stay for the night, informed the front desk, they offered to switch rooms, but she declined,” Tierney said.
      The inspector also noted on Apr. 16, 2017, a female identified as Ms. O’Neill stayed in room #12.
      “She checked the bed upon entering and found bed bugs. Went to the front desk to inform them. They looked at the room and saw the bed bugs. [The manager] tried to put [O’Neill] in room #18. In this room the ceiling is falling apart and there is dirty furniture. Ms. O’Neill checked out,” Tierney reported.
      On Aug. 7, 2017, Tierney said a woman identified as “Ashley and her family stayed at the Wagon Wheel last night. ..Ashley’s daughter woke up in the night and there were bed bugs all over her bed. They went to the front desk and were given clean sheets, but they wouldn’t move them to another room.” Inspecting the room on Sept. 6, 2017, Tierney said he could find no evidence of bed bugs.
      In Mar., 2018, ODC Inspector George Seifert visited the Wagon Wheel, citing seven violations, including improper use of extension cords. He also said he found mold on the ceiling and water stains in one room, a smoke detector missing from a room and “bedding (mattresses/box springs) and bed linen in numerous guest rooms are dirty and stained with unknown substances and are generally in unsanitary conditions,” specifically citing bed bugs.
      “The bed bug complaint has no paperwork to show they have been treated,” Seifert said.
      In Dec., 2018, Seifert visited the Wagon Wheel and reported eight violations, including dirty walls and a moldy bathroom. He said in room #1, “bed bugs and cock roaches are visible in the room.” In addition, Seifert said pigeon droppings were found “all over the place.”
      According to records made available to The Boardman News, Seifert inspected the Wagon Wheel twice in 2019.
      On Jan. 2, 2019, he cited eight violations, two of which had been corrected.
      In room #7, Seifert said the walls were still dirty and the bathroom was moldy, and the pigeon droppings were still an issue, and as well, bed bugs were seen in and on the bed in room #7.
      Seifert returned to the Wagon Wheel on Jan. 15, 2019, reporting the bathroom in room #7 was still moldy, and the room had been heat treated for bed bugs.