ELKO — The Utah owner of the Elko Inn and Studio faces civil action from the city of Elko for failure to provide adequate security less than a week after a SWAT team resulted in the arrest of the property manager and others.
Ville 837 LLC, received additional orders that included boarding up all windows and entryways and removing unauthorized persons from the property within five business days in a motion unanimously approved by the City Council on Tuesday.
The beleaguered motel was cited as a public nuisance in August following several complaints by neighboring businesses and residents along with increased criminal activity in the area.
The council also reversed an amendment to the nuisance abatement order issued Oct. 24 that had allowed the company to provide security on the property through Utah-based Vernal Real Estate Partners LLC.
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Owners are now required to secure Nevada-licensed security services going forward. They must also use state- or city-licensed contractors for any work on the property, including repairs, construction or demolition.
The motion also requested the City Attorney’s office to move forward with a civil complaint against Ville 837, according to state statute 268.4124. If a chronic nuisance is found or there is an “immediate threat to public health or safety” the court would have the authority to close the property.
The court could order the owners to pay a civil penalty of $750 per day and cover any costs incurred to abate the motel.
Abatement originally included removing all unauthorized people living in the motel, contracting with a state-licensed security service to “prevent unauthorized activities on the property,” installing a fence and security cameras and allowing for inspection by city staff.
City Manager Jan Baum said the raid showed “the property management team that Ville 837 put together hasn’t provided the best security at the property,” adding she believed the property manager was arrested in the raid.
On March 6, Sita Leusogi, 31, of Salt Lake City was taken into custody at the Elko Inn.
Across the street at the Greenacres Apartments, Ian Park, 32, of Spring Creek was arrested. Both men were charged with felony possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance less than 14 grams and gross misdemeanor possession of a dangerous drug without a prescription.
Elko Police Chief Ty Trouten recommended the City Council not allow the owner to continue managing the motel’s security, and that it must go to a “professional, licensed security company that will do the job to end this problem at that property.”
Trouten said the raid, led by the Elko Combined Narcotics Unit, was the result of three search warrants and is part of a larger “sales, use and movement of controlled substances” investigation. He told the council the raid showed him that since the nuisance was declared “there’s no improvement” at the motel. “It’s worse.”
Regarding the owners securing the property, Trouten said, “Quite honestly, to me, it seems like we have the fox guarding the hen house. I have zero trust, zero faith that anyone they send over from this company — if this is what they send over and how they brief and prepare them — that we will get adequate security to keep problems out of this area.”
Trouten said residents thanked police for “finally doing something” about the motel. He said that the female mail carrier also thanked the police, telling them she didn’t feel safe delivering mail in the area.
Complaints by residents and business owners ranged from attempted break-ins to indecent exposure to drug paraphernalia strewn in yards and alleyways. Some reported seeing people stealing water from outdoor faucets.Owner Keith Warburton, property consultant Shawn Hammond and a representative from Vernal Real Estate Partners, LLC, all appeared on a video call to the City Council.
Warburton, who said he hoped to turn the motel into low-income housing, told the City Council he believed things were going well. “I didn’t know there was a problem. We obviously would have taken action to remedy that if I was aware of it.”
Warburton also said he was told that to get a building permit, he would need a license, but City Clerk Kelly Wooldridge corrected him. She said she told Hammond and a contractor associated with Ville 837 several times there was no need for a business license to obtain a building permit. Instead, a licensed Nevada contractor must be secured for a building permit.