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Sunday, November 24, 2024 |
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Rusty Gutters Are Back !! |
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here&now 
MUSA Resident 
Joined: Feb 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
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 Topic: Rusty Gutters Are Back !!Posted: Jul 23 2009 at 11:27am |
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I thought It was over. I was wrong!!! I came home one day last week to find a door tag hanging on my mail box. It read "we would like to discuss the repair of your gutters in an effort to keep Middletown Beautiful".
If you posters recall I received a letter some months ago telling me to fix my gutters or the city would do it and send me a bill. So i climbed up on a ladder and painted them. Now I find out that this is not good enough for our fair city. So I called the number listed on the door card and spoke to a nice woman ( really she was) But I explained that I had painted the gutters and they looked fine and I could not afford to paint them again. This is when she said there is some assistance being given out by local retailers and she would gladly send me that information. True to her word the very next day there on my door was a letter with the names of businesses that would be willing to give me a discount on items as long as I present the letter from the city stating that my house need to repairs. So I am posting it here for all to see and want to know if it is just me or does it seem odd that our vice Mayor's business in one the list? This is a picture of my gutters.  Now keep in mind that I bought this house out of foreclosure and I am doing work on the inside, So the gutters are the last thing on my mind. Even If I felt that they needed immediate repair, which I do not, I have other more important concerns. And I believe the city has more important things to worry about.  
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Middletown News
Prominent MUSA Citizen 
Joined: Apr 29 2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1100 |
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Posted: Jul 23 2009 at 11:32am |
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Looks like someone crumpled up these letters. How would that happen? lol
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Hermes
Prominent MUSA Citizen
Joined: May 19 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 1637 |
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Posted: Jul 23 2009 at 11:38am |
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For starters the Armbruster listing is a conflict of interest and should not be on there. This should be a direct violation of ethics law.
I had a follow up visit from the city a few weeks ago wanting to know when the work will be done on my house (per violation letter). I am disabled,on limited income and they still are pushing the issue. If I do have work done I'll make sure no business in this town gets my business,or at least no one on that list will get it.
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No more democrats no more republicans,vote Constitution Party !!
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2000+
MUSA Resident
Joined: Jan 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 100 |
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Posted: Jul 23 2009 at 12:10pm |
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Question:
If the city has the hubris to send a contractor out to repair something on a residence with the intent to charge the resident for the work later on their tax bill, doesn't the resident owner have the right NOT to allow said contractor onto their property? In essence, nullifying any forced costs?
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VietVet
MUSA Council 
Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Posted: Jul 23 2009 at 12:18pm |
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I'd paint those bad boys a flourescent safety orange or lime green with an explanation that they were painted that color so that the beautification folks could see the painted gutters from the street, thereby, not having to strain themselves getting out of the car to check with their magnifying glass.
 Sounds like you're on someone's crap list and are a target for harassment. To force you to do the painting again, and to conveniently suggest local businesses to use, is, at best, unethical/conflict of interest(in Armbruster's case) as to city conducted business. JMO
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Hermes
Prominent MUSA Citizen
Joined: May 19 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 1637 |
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Posted: Jul 23 2009 at 12:20pm |
I'm no attorney but I would say the city is violating some kind law by doing that. Who would be held responsible for damage,injuries,etc by a contractor being sent by the city ? By the city being able to do that then our property is not ours but owned by the city ? If the city wants to send out a contractor to my house go right ahead,but they will never get a penny out of me for it.
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No more democrats no more republicans,vote Constitution Party !!
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randy
MUSA Official 
Joined: Jan 13 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 1586 |
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Posted: Jul 24 2009 at 11:33am |
That is funny! Could he get into trouble for that ? |
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Pacman
Prominent MUSA Citizen
Joined: Jun 02 2007 Status: Offline Points: 2612 |
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Posted: Jul 24 2009 at 11:45am |
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Randy have you been down on Central and seen the collection of Historic colored Second hand shops and the City currently states, "we are not ready to tackle the Paint situation yet."
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randy
MUSA Official
Joined: Jan 13 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 1586 |
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Posted: Jul 24 2009 at 11:51am |
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I have seen them and I have also seen the big pink house over on route 4, but the city seems to have a fixation on gutters. So I wonder what they would say if the next time they come out to here&now's house if his gutters were pink or green or even bright blue? lol
And Pacman I hope you are feeling better |
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VietVet
MUSA Council
Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008 |
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Posted: Jul 25 2009 at 9:19am |
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Hey! The city allows Sherwin- Williams to advertise the use of their paint for this program and the city (ie- some members of Council/city building) get a kickback from Sherwin-Williams. The city allows Armbruster and these other participants to advertise for the purpose of exclusive use of their services for this program and the city (ie- some members of Council/city building) get a kickback from these participants for benefitting from the program. It's "All In The Family" with Archie Kohler and Edith Gilleland leading the Mike and Gloria Stivics at city hall.
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Doug Adkins
MUSA Immigrant 
Joined: Jul 25 2009 Status: Offline Points: 17 |
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Posted: Jul 25 2009 at 1:17pm |
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Here & Now...
Send me an email at douga@cityofmiddletown.org with your name and address and a contact phone number and I'll stop by and we'll look at it together. If we're wrong, we'll say so and apologize. If we're right, we may have resources to help with exterior repairs at no cost to you. Any house coming out of foreclosure and being updated should have our support.
Balls in your court....
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Doug Adkins
Community Revitalization Director |
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Ima B. Lever
MUSA Resident
Joined: Jul 23 2009 Status: Offline Points: 62 |
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Posted: Jul 25 2009 at 1:44pm |
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More from the Community Revitalization Department. Vivian Moon owns and resides in a house adjacent to the subject vacant house on Crawford Street.
I thought I would share this email from Mr. Doug Adkins with you since I do not want to put it on the MUSA blog.
Does he really believe what he has written in this email? I guess I will be mowing the grass at 611 since the City can't seem to find a vendor that ownes a small lawn mower....  ...Oh and don't forget they don't have the funds to care for these properties.... ....Vivian, The answer is the same as the cemetery. Because there is a very small pool of money to spend trying to keep these yards in compliance and we are struggling to keep them mowed before they get to the 6” violation level. There are currently over 1000 vacant residential properties in It isn’t a perfect world in I’m sorry we haven’t met your expectations. Sincerely, Doug Adkins From: Vivian Combs Moon [mailto:diggerviv@juno.com] Roger |
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Ima B. Lever
MUSA Resident
Joined: Jul 23 2009 Status: Offline Points: 62 |
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Posted: Jul 25 2009 at 1:59pm |
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Thank you Ward 2 candidate JOHN SOPPANISH for obtaining this "PREVIOUSLY UNAVAILABLE" (??) list of residential properties targeted for HUD-funded demolition by Mr. Adkins and his City staff!
CURRENT PROPERTY DEMO LIST 1810 Columbia………………………Demo date 8-31-2009 607 Malvern…………………………Completed by owner 7-13-2009 QUESTIONS FOR CITY COUNCIL - WARD 2 CANDIDATES: LESLIE FORD & A.K. SMITH
1) Of the $100,000 in HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funds allocated for residential property demolition for the 5/1/2009 - 4/30/2010 Program Year, how many houses are targeted? Of these, how many are situated in Ward 2 and what are the property addresses?
2) Of the $2.144 million in HUD Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP - Round One) funding received by the City of Middletown, how many houses are targeted for demolition? Of these, how many are situated in Ward 2 and what are the property addresses?
3) Of the $400,000 plus in HUD Home Investments Partnerships (HOME) Program funds received by the City of Middletown for Down Payment/Closing Cost Assistance over the past two years, how many Ward 2 purchasers were aided out of the 75+ households? What are the property addresses of these Ward 2 first-time buyers?
4) Of the $2.144 million in HUD Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP - Round One) funding received by the City of Middletown, how many of the 20 vacant, foreclosed houses that are targeted for acquisition/rehabilitation/resale are situated in Ward 2 and what are the property addresses?
5) Of the $19+ million in HUD Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP - Round Two) funding that the City of Middletown applied for on July 17th, how many more vacant, foreclosed houses are there that will be targeted for acquisition/rehabilitation/resale? Of this amount, how many are situated in Ward 2 and what are the property addresses? |
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Hermes
Prominent MUSA Citizen
Joined: May 19 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 1637 |
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Posted: Jul 25 2009 at 2:18pm |
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With all this HUD money floating around can I just sell my house to the city ?
Maybe Mr. Schiavone could be the realestate agent and do the deal.
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No more democrats no more republicans,vote Constitution Party !!
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here&now
MUSA Resident
Joined: Feb 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
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Posted: Jul 26 2009 at 3:55pm |
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here&now
MUSA Resident
Joined: Feb 27 2009 Status: Offline Points: 61 |
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Posted: Jul 27 2009 at 9:50am |
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Ok, I just had a phone call with Mr Adkins, the director of Middletown's Community Revitalization Program. And I must say that he was extremely nice and very helpful. We have a meeting at my house to discuss the gutters later this week. It really does sound like he is serious about helping me. I was very impressed. I will keep you posted on what happens.
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Ima B. Lever
MUSA Resident
Joined: Jul 23 2009 Status: Offline Points: 62 |
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Posted: Aug 04 2009 at 11:20pm |
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We were sent a letter by the City citing violations. Beware of Middletown's offers to assist! We were offered and accepted a low interest loan to fix up our home over two years ago. A contractor, whom the the city made us use, left before the work was finished, leaving poor work and new damage to our home. We have been over these issues in detail with a representative of the city on three occasions with no follow up. We wonder -is the City too busy, too disorganized or do they just not care?
Disgruntled
12:26 PM, 8/4/2009 |
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Ima B. Lever
MUSA Resident
Joined: Jul 23 2009 Status: Offline Points: 62 |
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Posted: Aug 05 2009 at 7:10am |
Middletown Journal, Ed Richter: Grant to help residents fix homes - Another Reader Complaint
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Hermes
Prominent MUSA Citizen
Joined: May 19 2009 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 1637 |
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Posted: Aug 05 2009 at 9:23am |
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Ima B Lever...thats how the game is played. If your a section 8 slumlord you don't spend your OWN money,you spend TAX PAYER money & use free help. Why is that hard to understand ?
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No more democrats no more republicans,vote Constitution Party !!
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Ima B. Lever
MUSA Resident
Joined: Jul 23 2009 Status: Offline Points: 62 |
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Posted: Aug 05 2009 at 11:31am |
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Hermes -
If you read the comments made by Tomahawk (and not by me), I think that you'll find that he's dismayed how a Section 8 landlord can receive taxpayer funded housing repairs from the City at no cost. I share his displeasure and the fact that City staff spent umpteen hours at this home on S. Marshall for three days! This is a sad state of affairs!
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Middletown Journal, Ed Richter: Grant to help residents fix homes - Reader Comment Last spring, the city of Middletown sent out more than 2,300 letters to property owners asking them to address various exterior property maintenance issues.