Belleville council has ordered more legal action against the ownership of a downtown eyesore.

Members at Tuesday’s council meeting spent about 20 minutes discussing the condition and future of 45 Bridge St. E., the former home of The Intelligencer and a long-decaying structure.

“We can’t continue with this building the way it is,” said Coun. Garnet Thompson. He’d asked city staff to complete a report on the property.

Chief building official Ted Marecak’s report, delivered Tuesday, lists eight enforcement orders issued between Oct. 31, 2011 and Sept. 25, 2019.

The Intelligencer has not occupied the building since August 2011, when operations moved next door to what is now Century Village at 199 Front St.

Quebecor Media Inc., the newspaper’s then-owner, in 2008 sold the building and property to Prime Canadian Properties Inc. for $425,000, provincial records show.

Intelligencer staff remained in the building for three more years as part of a lease agreement. At the time, the building was already in need of repair. There were structural concerns, including cracks in at least one wall, and air-quality complaints.

The city’s first property-standards order to the new owner came just two months after the building became vacant. The city ordered the clearing of weeds and overgrowth – but Prime Canadian didn’t comply.

Fifteen months after a city order to repair the building, Justice of the Peace Sam Cureatz fined Prime Canadian $5,000.

Then, on April 28, 2016, the city ordered Prime Canadian to either bring the building into compliance or to demolish it. That didn’t happen either.

By 2017, Prime Canadian owed $75,660 in back taxes. The city issued a tax arrears certificate on Jan. 16 of that year; the company paid the bill two months later.

The company did, however, comply twice with orders made during the past summer. The building was secured in July 2019 and August 2019 after the city ordered that work.

In addition to property standards orders, there was no compliance with two “clean yards” orders – one in June 2019, the other in September 2019 – required the trimming of grass and weeds. September’s also required trash removal.

Throughout, the building has remained vacant. Some new windows were added a few years ago to the second floor. But some are now open, with pigeons often roosting there and visible flying through other parts of the second floor.

But they are not the only occupants. Various people have in recent years been seen entering and leaving the building. One afternoon this fall, city police removed three teenagers from the structure.

Coun. Chris Malette, a former Intelligencer reporter and city editor, told council he has it on “good authority” that people have been living there.

court action

Prime Canadian Properties is owned by its founder, Abdul Mian, according to its website. The company now maintains an address in Stouffville. Calls made Thursday to the company were not answered.

Terry Mian, who as manager of the company has been its public face locally, did not respond to a request for comment by Thursday’s deadline.

He has for years scoffed at the city’s demands, claiming “harassment” and that the city wants the building “for free.” In a 2017 interview, Mian vowed to recoup his investment.

Mian has claimed he was going to refurbish the building and create 23 condominium units.

But in the last few years only deterioration has been visible. The paint is peeling. The exterior is crumbling and marked with graffiti. Several years ago, water – apparently from ruptured pipes – accumulated inside, streamed down grimy windows, flowed down the front lobby’s stairwell and seeped outside beneath the front door.

“What can we do to cut to the chase and actually deal with this property in the best way?” Mayor Mitch Panciuk asked chief building official Marecak during Tuesday’s meeting.

“I cannot imagine the health and safety issues inside that building because of the lack of maintenance and I believe the time has come now for us to move on legal proceedings,” he said.

“The reading that I have from our community is that that is what they expect us to do,” said the mayor.

“There is a process in place and we need to follow it,” Marecak replied, describing legal action as “the first step on that road.”

In the meantime, Marecak said, the city will again hire a contractor to secure the building, including closing a basement window on the west side. The cost will be added to the ownership’s tax bill.

“I have confirmed that the taxes are current,” said Marecak.

He said there’s little hope Prime Canadian will comply any further.

“The last orders that were sent out by registered mail, as they’re required to be, returned to the city as unclaimed,” he said.

“Not much of a surprise.”

Belleville’s property standards bylaw requires a building to be boarded up for no longer than three months. It must then be brought into compliance or demolished.

Marecak said Prime Canadian would have been informed of this in the past.

“With no disrespect to the owner I don’t think it would matter,” he added.

The mayor noted resolving such issues isn’t as easy as it may seem.

“It is not simply a matter of our staff being able to snap their fingers and issue orders to comply and have things resolved,” Panciuk said. “It is a lengthy process.”

Taking care to note he was speaking generally, he added, “There are many property owners that play games with our staff.”

They refuse to fix buildings and seek extensions only to comply at the last minute and then “start the clock all over again,” Panciuk said. He said the city has had some success in removing other vacant buildings, including those which once housed the Cabaret Strip club on Front Street, Trudeau Motors dealership on Station Street and Sun-Luck Gardens restaurant on North Front Street.

If the city wins a conviction for the company’s failure to comply with orders, Marecak said, the city can also request a prohibition order. It means Prime Canadian could also be found to be in contempt of court.

Coun. Pat Culhane asked Marecak whether the company could, despite prosecution, still comply. He said that was possible.

“That’s unfortunate,” said Culhane.