Village Inn residents in 'limbo'

Jan. 26—Candy Cantrell isn't sure where she will live come Jan. 31 — the date residents are to be out of the Village Inn.

"There just isn't a lot available," Cantrell said of the current housing market in Crossville, especially for a young mother like herself with limited resources.

She applied for housing last year while expecting her daughter. Her daughter is now 3 months old. The Village Inn is the only home she's known.

Cantrell said she's been working at Pizza Hut in Crossville and using her tips to pay for her room at the Village Inn.

"It's not been a lot," she said — maybe $50 a week, she estimated.

Not enough to rent an apartment in Crossville, she said.

Village Inn property manager Steve Threet told the Chronicle about 90 people are still living at the motel-turned-housing-complex on Main St. next to Crossville City Hall.

When asked what will happen to them next week, Threet is emotional.

"I don't know," he said.

"It's a mess. It's a bad time of year. I've got folks who are scared."

The city of Crossville had been moving to purchase the property for $450,000 from owner Dr. Robert "Buck" Wood. But the third and final reading of a budget amendment to allocate money for the purchase was pulled from a Dec. 28 special-called meeting.

During the Jan. 3 work session, City Attorney Randy York said additional time was needed to review the city's purchase. The matter has not been scheduled for a final vote.

Threet said he's had no communication from the city regarding the status of the purchase.

"I'm in limbo," Threet said.

Crossville City Manager Greg Wood noted the city did not issue the notice of eviction residents received earlier this month.

The contract for the purchase calls for closing on the sale within 60 days of the third and final reading by the city council — something that has not yet happened. Under the contract, the Village Inn would then notify residents of the sale and give them 30 days to vacate the premises.

Greg Wood noted the city has offered various services to the current residents. That includes helping residents submit applications to the Crossville Housing Authority and other agencies providing short-term and long-term housing; helping residents obtain documents such as birth certificates or Social Security cards required for applications; and trying to help with moving arrangements.

Some residents have past criminal convictions that can bar them from qualifying for public housing. In those circumstances, Greg Wood explained individuals need to complete an application with the housing authority and see if the offense qualifies for expungement. Not all convictions will meet the criteria outlines in state law.

"To date, the convictions that we have checked on have all been nonexpungable," Greg Wood wrote.

He noted that if someone has a conviction that qualifies for expungement, the matter will be referred to a member of the local bar association, which he said has provided pro bono services in the past when requested.

The city has also attempted to coordinate services with a number of agencies, Wood said, including veterans organizations, homeless housing programs and other agencies.

"It is true that some residents have refused our help," Greg Wood wrote. "Some of them have refused to consider short-term housing until other arrangements can be made. Some have refused efforts to help them obtain phones and help them get documents that they need to find alternative housing. Some refuse to even talk to representatives of the city."

Since the notices to vacate were issued earlier this month, Threet said some tenants have not paid rent.

"Which is fine," he said. "We were going to give good tenants who were not in arrears, we were going to refund them 30 days of rent."

Cantrell has spoken with an advocate with Homeless Advocacy for Rural Tennessee and has contacted the Crossville Housing Authority about her housing application. She's still waiting, and she doesn't know where she'll go next.

Last week, Threet said two officers with the Crossville Police Department went "above and beyond," knocking on every door to talk to residents about services and resources.

Residents are "actively looking" for new accommodations, Threet said. Since the notices went out in late December, residents of three units have moved.

Many people are packing and boxing their items. The Village Inn had offered to let residents take their room furnishings with them if they moved during the move-out period. Threet said he had offered a 16-foot trailer on loan to help folks move.

But many, like Cantrell, aren't finding a lot of options.

There have been efforts to talk with other rental properties, but Threet said, "There's no openings."

If residents can find an place, Threet noted the cost to move can be high with rental deposits, utility deposits, first and last month's rent.

"You've got to have $3,000 just to get in," he said.

Threet said it's been difficult managing the property since the city closed it in July citing safety concerns. Residents were turned out that night only to be allowed back the next day. The city cited a procedural error in the closing.

"Everybody was tickled to death, they let us come back. Well, what are they going to do now?" Threet said.

Threet noted the facility had been cleared of safety concerns following an inspected by the Tennessee Division of Fire Prevention just a week after the closure by city fire and codes officials.

The inspection noted many of the same deficiencies cited by the city, though many of those items had been addressed by an Aug. 22 follow-up inspection and other items showed "considerable improvements," according to the report.

The report notes Barry Field conducted a structural inspection of the stairs and a retaining wall. Field said he is of the opinion that repairs and improvements to the exterior of the building were structurally sound. The retaining wall was structurally stable, though Field recommended six-month interval monitoring to ensure movement of the wall has stopped.

According to documents reviewed by the Crossville Chronicle, Dr. Buck Woods' attorney Doug Fields approached York in October regarding the city buying the Village Inn.

The Crossville City Council initially tabled any action on the proposed purchase during its Dec. 6 work session, but a special-called meeting was set for Dec. 13 to consider the purchase and the first reading of a budget amendment.

The second reading was held during a special-called meeting Dec. 20.

On Dec. 21, city officials invited representatives of area agencies to a coordination meeting to discuss how to inform residents of available services.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.