The Centralia Police, Fire, and Code Enforcement officers have stopped all operations at the Home Motel at 326 West Noleman Street and declared all the rooms in the facility uninhabitable.
Centralia Police Chief Greg Dodson says after several months of inspections by state and local officials, every single room in the facility was found to have multiple electrical, plumbing, building code, and fire code violations rendering the rooms unsafe for occupancy.
Dodson says the living conditions in all of the rooms were beyond appalling. He notes the motel has operated as more of a boarding house than a motel in the last several years and at times families and children have lived in the deplorable, unsanitary, and unsafe conditions.
In addition, Dodson says the facility has been an ongoing site of multiple drug arrests, ten calls for overdoses since the beginning of the year, as well as general criminal activity and public nuisances. He notes from a law enforcement perspective the motel is deemed a drug-involved premise.
Community Development Director Gayla Harting says signs were hung on all 13 doors marking the rooms as uninhabitable. She noted one room didn’t have a sink, several toilets were not fastened to the floor, there was exposed wiring, and inadequate electrical power for some of the kitchen appliances.
Two arrests were made on Monday as remaining motel patrons were ordered to leave. Dodson says 34-year-old Angel Peters attempted to flee out a back window in one of the rooms and was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, and criminal trespass to property. She was taken to the Marion County Jail. A second person found at the motel, 34-year-old Blake Miller, was arrested on a Clinton County misdemeanor warrant. He was released after posting bond.
Dodson says the owners of the facility will be given the opportunity to correct all the violations and make the facility safe for occupancy or the city will proceed with condemnation of the property.
