BY JOHN A. DARNELL JR.
      associate editor
      A magistrate has given the Wagon Wheel Motel, 7015 Market St., until June 19 to make repairs to the hostelry, or else it could be permanently closed.
      Boardman Township Administrator Jason Loree said this week any repairs will be reinspected by the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
      The motel has been declared by Boardman Trustees as a public nuisance.
      In May, a Mahoning County Magistrate ruled the motel is a “hazard that is insecure, unsafe and structurally defective” and in “dilapidated condition” serviced by “defective or poorly-installed electrical wiring equipment.”
      Magistrate Dominic DeLurentis Jr. said the motel was so decrepit, “danger is imminent.” He granted a temporary restraining order sought by the Boardman Fire Department “prohibiting occupancy” and ordering anyone staying there had to vacate by noon, Sat., May 25.
      Magistrate DeLaurentis Jr. ordered that the motel remain unoccupied until “necessary repairs have been made.
      “All repairs should be completed pursuant to plans submitted to the Mahoning County Building Department, or other agency or department with jurisdiction.”
      Defendants in the matter are Akm and Nasrin Rahman, of 29 Overhill Rd., and Chirag Enterprises LLC, Chirag Patel, statutory agent, 1715 East Turkey Foot Lake Rd., Akron, Oh.
      According to an official Boardman Township notice dated Jan. 31, 2006, then Administrator Curt B. Seditz announced a consent decree set forth “strict conditions for the allowing the Wagon Wheel Motel to remain in business.”
      In the consent decree, “the owners admitted that the motel is a nuisance under Ohio law and agreed to give Boardman police authority to search the premises for drug activity at any time, without prior notice. They also agreed to strictly comply with all fire codes. And if at any time they fail to assist the police department in the abatement of nuisance conditions at the property, the property will be closed and boarded up for at least one year,” Seditz said.
      In the notice, Seditz said “On July 27, 2005, Boardman police raided the motel following an extensive undercover investigation and arrested the manager and another woman on drug charges. At the time, Sgt. Mike Hughes, supervisor of the Boardman narcotics unit, described the manager’s apartment adjoining the motel office as a ‘flop house’ for smoking crack cocaine. Police said the motel had a longstanding reputation for harboring illegal drug activity.”
      On Sept. 6, 2005, Boardman police obtained a court order temporarily closing the establishment as a nuisance. It remained closed for two weeks, but was allowed to reopen after repairs and a change in management.
      On June 5, 2019, Lt. William Ferrando motel, joining with George Seifert of State Fire Marshal’s Office for an inspection of the premises.
      Their inspection found in eleven rooms of the 21-room facility, “mold was found in bathrooms,” and the ceiling in room #20 showed signs of leaking and “has mold built up.” A toilet in another room was leaking and in need of repairs, the inspector said. Additionally, the roof on the structure showed some signs of leaking, the inspectors 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 early 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.
      According to records of the Boardman Police Department, police officers have answered 285 total calls to the Wagon Wheel since 2016. Those totals include three natural deaths, three documented overdoses and one death from an overdose.