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Clute eyes deal with apartment complex
Published November 27, 2009
CLUTE — City officials had set Wednesday as the deadline for Ashton Oaks Apartments to pay up or have their water turned off, but they postponed turning off the water for now, until City Council makes a final decision at their next City Council meeting.
“At this time it does not appear we will turn the water off Dec. 2,” Acting City Manager Mark Wicker said.
Though Clute officials originally believed Ashton Oaks owed the city $427,559 in overdue water bills, interest and late fees, the number likely will be lowered, he said.
Clute had sent the complex owner a certified letter of notification that the water would be turned off Wednesday if something wasn’t done to pay the balance.
However, the city has reached a tentative agreement with Ashton Oaks owner Marc Johnson, Wicker said.
The agreement must go before council at their next meeting before it is finalized, he said.
“We’re trying to help them remain open,” Wicker said. “There are some good residents over there, and we don’t want to see them displaced.”
Wicker would not go into specifics of the agreement until it is before City Council.
Ashton Oaks has missed a few payments, and interest accrued has added to the bill.
The owners have attempted to work with the city, but never made payment on money they owe, city officials have said.
“We’re hopeful, obviously, that the settlement we’ve reached with the manager and mayor will be approved by council,” said Lynn Klement, an attorney for Johnson.
However, while waiting for the council meeting, the complex has other issues to address, Wicker said, including building code, health code and fire code violations.
The owners have been warned of these violations and must make an effort to correct them, Wicker said.
“We haven’t taken a hard line on when it has to be done,” building inspector Doug Caffey said. Instead the city is working with the complex on what needs to be fixed, he said.
Electric boxes without covers, too few fire extinguishers, exposed wiring, unsafe stairs and mold are a few of the problems, Wicker said.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s office is waiting to hear when the hearing date will be set to discuss that department’s complaint against Ashton Oaks.
“We’re waiting on the outcome of the water bill situation,” Clute Police Detective Scotty Harris said.
The Texas Attorney General’s office is asking a judge to appoint a manager for the complex in the hopes that he or she would take steps to reduce crime there. The suit came after Clute officials approached the attorney general’s office with concerns about the crime rate.
The petition cites 12 narcotics or marijuana violations, two robberies and two aggravated assaults that have taken place at Ashton Oaks since June 1, 2008, as evidence the owner isn’t doing enough to stop crime there.
The attorney general’s office has asked a judge either to appoint a receivership to manage the apartment for one year or shut the apartment complex down for one year, allowing the owner time to fix the issues.
If the apartment complex did a complete turnaround and fixed the problems, the suit could be dropped, Harris said.
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