1061 Allen Street (January 2023)
The corporation that owns the former Crawford Furniture Building that burned down in a fire in November 2022 is expected to plead guilty to code violations.
City of Jamestown Corporation Counsel Elliot Raimondo and Allen Street Development LLC Attorney Daryl Brautigam appeared in Housing Court Friday, April 28 before Judge George Panebianco.
Brautigam informed the Judge that he is advising his client at a pre-trial hearing scheduled for June 2, 2023 to enter a guilty plea on two tickets.
Jamestown Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said these tickets are for on-going violations at 1061 Allen Street that go back several years in regards to junk and debris issues as well as other code issues that preceded the fire on November 16, 2022.
Raimondo said this plea will allow the City to seek damages against the corporation, “After the fire, the city had to pay H.H. Rauh Contracting $100,000 for an emergency demolition just due to the fact that the site was so unsafe during and immediately after the fire for any individuals to near there. That said, anyone who drives on Allen Street and past 1061 Allen will still see that there are massive, and what we would say is Superfund type site, that needs to be cleaned up at the site of the fire.”
Raimondo said the city has received quotes for over a million dollars for that clean-up. He added that the owners also owe over $90,000 in back taxes for the past five years.
The pre-trial motion on June 2 also will determine if Richard Rusiniak has any personal liability as one of the principal owners of Allen Street Development LLC. A sentencing date for the guilty pleas will be determined at the pre-trial and that future date also will include the hearing of contempt charges against Richard Rusiniak by the City for providing false statements in court.
Meanwhile, Surdyk said the Environmental Protection Agency is still assessing the site. She said their involvement with the site in the years before the fire has been a benefit to the city, “I think the fire could have been much more damaging and catastrophic had they (EPA) not been able to achieve some compliance with removing some of the chemicals and hazardous materials from the site. We do know there were still some hazardous materials that remained at the time of the fire, but like I said, it could have been much more catastrophic than it was.”
The DEC and EPA are each pursuing independent actions against the property owners.
Surdyk added that Jamestown Police have not charged anyone with setting the fire but said she believed they did have suspects in the case. WRFA contacted Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson about the matter but had not heard back by press time.
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