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Item No. 13 Memorandum TO: City Council John Godwin, City Manager FROM: Larry Wright, Fire Chief SUBJECT: Flea Market, DATE: April 25, 2016 BACKGROUND: On March 19, 2016, an inspection was made of the flea market located at 2810 N. E. Loop 286. Involved in the inspection were Code Enforcement, Fire Department/Fire Marshal, Police Department, Building Inspections, Lamar County Health Department, and the State Comptroller. A thorough inspection was made of all structures on the premises. An administrative search warrant had been issued which allows entry into all areas for inspection purposes. During the course of the inspection, a multitude of violations of the City Code of Ordinances as discovered including faulty and unsafe electrical wiring, structural degradation, unsanitary conditions of food servers, no certificates of occupancy, sale of illegal merchandise including pirated DVDs, inappropriate flow of traffic causing an undue hazard to pedestrians, unauthorized habitation of trailers and structures on the premises, no fire lanes, and no water source for fire protection. The roof of one structure had been damaged from high winds the week before. The State Comptroller interviewed approximately 70 individuals, who for the most part had no tax identification numbers, indicating the City of Paris was not receiving taxes on merchandise being sold. Because this was only a fact finding inspection, no citations were issued, however, the illegal merchandise was confiscated, the electricity to a large majority of the property was disconnected due to the unsafe conditions of the wiring, and the State Comptroller registered all parties who did not have a sales tax identification number. The manager of the property, Mr. Bob Brainard, was informed that vendors could not actively sell out of the structures where power was cut until the required permits were obtained and the structures were brought up to code. This included the auction barn. No outside vending was affected by this order. STATUS OF ISSUE: The substandard structures were brought before the Building Standards Commission for consideration of demolition on March 18, 2016. Based on the facts provided to them, they made the determination that the substandard structures on the property were in fact beyond repair and that they should be demolished. The remaining structures would be brought into compliance with the City Code before they could be occupied. The City was contacted by A.W. Clem, Attorney, prior to the Buildings and Standards Commission meeting, that the control of the property after the will was probated, and assignment, was made to Paul Wells, CPA, 1323 Lamar Ave. He had in fact contracted with Bobby Smallwood, contractor, and Sanitation Solutions to move forward with demolition of at least one of the structures on the site. Further work will be done with Paul Wells to ensure safe ingress and egress from the property,