Oversight Needed at Bennet Senior Housing

Residents at Bennet Apartments, 1146 Main St., are unhappy with how their building is being maintained and express frustration that no one responds to their complaints. They speak of wornout rugs, poor landscape maintenance and snow removal, and a frequently broken down elevator. When the elevator is broken some residents are incapable of getting out of the building.  

The town's Building Department has a concern about the condition of the roof, which has leaked in the past.

This writer noted that last spring a broken bench was sawed in half in front of the building and remained there for up to a month. At one point the plowing contractor crashed into another bench. The broken rubble lay there until the spring. Last year with all the snow we had, some of the sidewalks were never cleared at all.  The interior exit stairs appear to be originals and some of them are crumbling at the edge, presenting an unsafe condition.

Representatives from Suburban Greater Hartford Realty, the agency that manages the property, explain that funding (rental income) for maintenance and repairs is inadequate. When asked about carpet replacement, the management company claims they have replaced much of the carpeting in many of the units. If the hallways are recarpeted, rents may have to increase.

The Bennet building, formerly South Manchester High School, is a town owned building leased to a private development corporation. The Corporation has a 40 year lease that started in 1983. Knowledgeable sources say the building was rehabbed into senior housing back in the 1980’s via a complex tax shelter arrangement that was very controversial at the time. Since it is a town owned building, no property taxes are collected, but the leaseholder was to pay rent in lieu of taxes at the rate of $55,377 per year from 1984 through the year 2000 and after that only $1 per year. By 1993 the “corporation” owed $283,183 in back rent. At that time the lease was amended, allowing payment of the back rent to be deferred  until the project is sold or refinanced at an undetermined date. According to a town official, an additional $137,683 is owed for back rent from 1993 through 2000.

When the project was developed in 1883, the Town established the “Bennet Housing Corporation,” a commission like entity presumably to “work in conjunction with the management company.” Five members are appointed to the “Corporation” by the Board of Directors. The “Corporation” Bylaws state they are required to meet at least annually. Within weeks of the establishment of the publicly appointed Corporation in 1983, the lease was turned over to a private development corporation. The only public evidence of meetings on the town website are minutes from 2008. Recently, two members of the Commission expressed confusion over the mission of the group, a lack of direction and a lack of regular meetings. They indicated they have not met in “quite some time.” A town official described the Corporation as it as “extremely inactive.”

The minutes from the 2008 meeting state that residents raised concerns about poor upkeep, poor snow removal and landscaping and worn out rugs in the halls.

To quote Yogi Berra - deja vu all over again!

The 2008 minutes reflected a decision to replace the hallway rugs over several years and to check into the complaints of poor upkeep. Three years later there is no evidence of any hallway rugs being replaced and residents still express frustration about poor maintenance. Overall, the building appears to be deteriorating, the tenants are unhappy with the conditions and no one seems to want to do anything about it. The management company suggests that they are doing the best they can.

Calls to the Vesta Housing Corporation, the alleged leaseholder, have not been returned.

This situation raises many questions:

• Who is responsible for oversight of this public building and why isn’t it happening?
• Is the building deteriorating and is the maintenance poor or are the tenants just a bunch of curmudgeons, with unrealistic complaints?
• If it’s deteriorating, how bad is it?  Is the Town going to end up with another public building needing costly renovations?  
• Why isn’t funding available for proper upkeep? Who made the money on this deal?
• Is the BOD aware of the fact that over $422,000 in back rent is owed on this property? Why has this been allowed?
• This arrangement was made  in 1984. Why are there no minutes posted by the Bennet Housing Corporation other than for a meeting in 2008? Does the Corporation meet at all?  If so, where are the minutes? If they do meet, what are they supposed to do?
• Will the senior residents have a chance to voice their concerns? Will they be heard?
• Will the Board of Directors check into this and provide active oversight?