OLEAN - A group of city residents tired of watching their neighborhoods overrun with garbage and dilapidated apartment houses have joined Common Council President Richard Smith’s Clean Up Olean Committee.

The committee held its first organizational meeting Wednesday. Mr. Smith, R-Ward 3, called the committee together, seeking volunteers from all seven city wards.

In addition to the seven council members, the committee includes 18 city residents concerned about their neighborhoods.

From the start, the group targeted landlords who don’t take care of their apartment houses.

Steve Bergstrom of Center Street said the city should perform a mandatory code inspection every time a property is sold.

Mr. Bergstrom said several major landlords in the city buy homes at county tax auctions and then partition them to fill them with tenants, but do nothing to clean the homes up.

“When you buy a house on back taxes, there is not a soul who is checking these houses out,” he said. “Some of these landlords have gotten huge by buying homes on back taxes from the county.”

Mr. Bergstrom said while Olean has many conscientious landlords who care for their properties, it only takes one dilapidated home to ruin a neighborhood. He said he knows people who sold their homes to move away from a dilapidated building down the street.

“I don’t care if there are rental properties in my neighborhood, but I want them to respect the neighborhood,” he said of landlords. “When somebody owns 30 homes and they’re all garbage, we’re doing something wrong.”

Olean Fire Chief Robert Bell, head of the Code Enforcement Office, said there are no laws on the books that would allow code enforcement officers to enter a private residence at the time of sale to ensure a building meets codes.

Committee member Erick Laine of North Third Street said he’s seen the effect of a few rundown rental properties on his neighborhood.

“That’s the issue we’re confronting - slumlords,” he said. “They don’t give a hoot about who else suffers and a lot of people suffer when slums are created in attractive neighborhoods.”

Mr. Laine said fighting the decline of city neighborhoods isn’t just about making Olean look better. He said cleaning up neighborhoods would make Olean a more vibrant place to live and that in turn helps attract new businesses, industries and residents.

“It would benefit every citizen across the board,” he said.

Larry Daniels of West Green Street said everyone knows the city’s housing stock is in decline. He said the committee needs to be proactive and adopt a process to confront and correct problems at each troubled address in the city.

“First we need to identify the problem. Then we need to identify the owner. Is it an elderly person or is it a problem landlord? And then we need to identify the solution and support the solution,” he said.

Kelly Sweet of Laurens Street suggested everyone on the committee compile and prioritize a list of problems in their neighborhood and suggested solutions before the next meeting. Mr. Smith said the group will meet again Oct. 1 at 5:30 p.m. The meetings are held in the Common Council Chambers of the Municipal Building.

Chief Bell is distributing copies of city property code laws to all members of the committee. The codes are available online by visiting the city’s Web site at www.cityofolean.org and clicking on the codes link. The city also enforces New York state building and fire codes.

Mr. Smith said he’s encouraged by the first meeting of the committee.

“We have a good committee here,” he said. “I believe this is a good step in the right direction.”

(Contact reporter John Eberth at jeberth@oleantimesherald.com)

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