Written by Chris Mayhew with The Alexandria Recorder • Apr. 8, 2013:
Alexandria pressing auto shop owner in court
Written by Chris Mayhew • Apr. 8, 2013
ALEXANDRIA — Disagreement about
the pace of repairs at an Alexandria auto repair shop damaged by fire April 6,
2012, has the city and shop owner in a legal fight.
Charles “Bud” Gilbert, owner of
Advanced Auto Services, was in Campbell County District Court in Newport
Friday, April 5, for an arraignment hearing on charges of violating two city
ordinances.
Gilbert is charged with a
violating the city’s nuisances ordinance and the blighted or deteriorated
property ordinance.
The citation report, issued by
Alexandria Police Dec. 3, 2012, alleged inoperable motor vehicles were parked
in front of the business. The report stated several vehicles had flat tires and
motors missing, and one truck hadn’t been moved in two weeks without being
worked on. The report went on to state that there were “spare automotive parts
lying around structure of building including old tires, transmissions, drive
shafts, body parts of vehicles, etc.”
The same report alleged no
attempt to clean up or repair the property had been made as of Dec. 3 since the
building burned on April 6.
Gilbert told District Court Judge
Karen A. Thomas he thought the reasons for the court case had been resolved.
“I don’t understand how it’s not
worked out,” Gilbert said.
Thomas said the case had not been
resolved, and it will be continued for a pretrial conference at 2 p.m. April
16.
“We’ll go from there,” she said.
The city will be consulted for an
update prior to April 16, Thomas said.
Alexandria Mayor Bill Rachford
said he’s not happy with the pace of progress of repairs at the shop, and that
there has been no mediation yet.
“He’s making progress, probably
as slowly as possible,” Rachford said. “He doesn’t seem to do anything on a
cooperative basis.”
Rachford said the city will
follow any process set out by the court and pursue legal options to force
Gilbert to make all repairs required by city code.
“If he doesn’t comply after the
mediation session on the 16th, I will pull his occupational license and shut
him down,” Rachford said.
Rachford said he has no desire to
shut the business down and put Gilbert’s employees out of work, but will do so
if it is the only way to get the repairs done. Threats of action by the city
are the only thing that seem to get work going at the shop – which is still not
in compliance, Rachford said.
Gilbert was also not present at a
March 8 court hearing in the case, Rachford said.
Gilbert said he strongly
disagrees with the city’s view that repairs are taking too long.
“Everything they've wanted me to
do, I’ve done with the exception of getting the garage doors on,” he said.
A new roof has been installed,
and the parking lot in front has been striped with yellow paint, Gilbert said.
Other businesses don’t have parking lot spaces striped, but that the city has
required it of him, Gilbert said.
Gilbert said he has explained to
the city the garage doors ordered in February were supposed to be already
installed. The garage door installer has now agreed to have them installed by
April 30, he said.
Gilbert said he has not worked on
a car in the front parking lot since the day the city wrote him a ticket in the
lot for doing so. The city ordinances do allow for flat tires to be changed in
the front lot, he said.
Gilbert said the city knew
repairs were not being made at the auto shop for the first six months after the
fire because he thought he had the property sold. The property sale fell
through, and by then it was winter, he said.
“You can’t put a roof on when it
is snowing and raining,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert said the burned portion
of the building will be ready to be reopened for business by May 5, and the
city has not been fair.
City officials act like
Alexandria is Beverly Hills and Main Street is Beverly Hills Drive, he said.
“There’s a building that’s
boarded up on Beverly Hills Drive that’s been that way for years,” Gilbert
said.
