ATHENS, Ala. (WHNT) — Justin Malone has lived in the Bonnie Doone apartment complex for 10 years and said that the air conditioning unit in his apartment and the other apartments have been nearly inoperable.
With many maintenance concerns like the grass, faulty wiring and abandoned buildings – he says he’s never seen conditions this bad.
“With the different safety concerns with things like air conditioning, there are so many families being affected by the lack and the negligence that’s going on right now,” said Malone.
Malone says it’s been more than two years since any major maintenance was performed in this complex. The tenants at Bonnie Doone say that their pleas for help have been ignored by the owner.
Malone, along with the Limestone County NAACP, took his concerns to Athens City Hall to ask Mayor Ronnie Marks and the city council to help locate the owner of the complex and get some relief from the stifling heat, because they said they have been suffering for far too long.
“We have old air conditioning units that need to be replaced because those units are probably 20 to 30 years old,” Malone explained. “The previous owner came in with a promise to fix it, but it still hasn’t been replaced.”
According to the sign on the management office building, the last known owner of the complex is listed as Millennia Housing Management with an address in Cleveland, Ohio.
Marks says that he reached out to the owner of the property but did not get a response. His plan now, he says, is for the city’s legal team and code enforcement to take possible action.
“We have to figure out what our next step is and what do we have some strong authority to do and when they don’t answer the phone,” said Marks. “Do we condemn the whole apartment complex? We are not, but I am willing to do what needs to be done.”
Efforts to reach the owners of Millennia Housing Management have been unsuccessful.
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