The one-time rooming house at 1436 Grace Ave. has 12 bedrooms. The city wants it converted into a single family home.

Having failed to find a suitable buyer for the former rooming house it owns on Grace Avenue, the city is now giving serious consideration to demolishing the property.

The city’s top housing official on Monday briefed members of the City Council’s housing committee about ongoing efforts to unload two boarding houses the city purchased last year for $270,000 from an absentee landlord in order to shut them down.

Dru Siley told committee members the city is close to selling the Mars Avenue property for $25,000 to a man associated with Final Destination Restoration. The man and his finance, who are not current Lakewood residents, will convert the property to a single family home and make it their primary residence.

Siley estimated the couple will invest approximately $140,000 to make necessary modifications and repairs. The sales contract, which is set to close around June 4, will have a “claw back” clause penalizing the owners if certain deadlines are unmet. They have 30 days to pull the necessary repair permits and 180 days to fix all exterior building code violations. They must have all other repairs made within 12 months.

While the new owners will have a lot of work to do, Siley noted that many of the house’s original interior features — like built-in wood cabinets — were left intact. In addition, many of the floor-plan modifications made by the prior owner were done using drywall and can be removed without too much difficulty.

The 1446 Mars Ave. property has five bedrooms.

He said Mars Ave. properties in the vicinity of the Lakewood Public Library on Detroit Avenue “tend to hold their value,” and observed the average sales price is around $170,000.

A representative from the city checked out a couple of Shaker Heights houses that were rehabbed by Final Destination Restoration and found them to be well done, according to Siley.

Grace Ave. property ‘more challenging’

The situation on Grace Avenue will not likely have as happy an ending.

Siley told the committee that the “economics of the property are more challenging” compared to the Mars Ave. house. He explained that it was “pretty significantly altered” over the years and all of the original features were stripped out. In addition, it must have all of its mechanicals replaced and suffered severe water damage.

Siley felt the high cost of rehabbing the property makes it very unattractive to potential investors. He doubted the city would even be able to give it away. The city lowered their asking price to $43,000, and marketed it through the Cleveland Restoration Society, but hasn’t attracted any serious interest.

One potential suitor approached the city last year with a proposal to turn it into a half-way house or keep it as a rooming house, and was rejected.

Siley said some Grace Ave. residents have been informed of the possible demolition of the house and offered no opposition. He said they were happy to be done with it — it had become a neighborhood nuisance as a rooming house. The homeowner to the south of the property expressed interest to Siley in buying the vacant lot.

Siley described one scenario in which the house could be demolished within 60 days to coincide with the grand opening of the new Discount Drug Mart on the corner of Detroit and Grace Avenues. Plans have not yet been finalized.

The stone facade of the former church building at 15422 Detroit Avenue is crumbling.

In other news…historic property in need of repair

On your next walk around town, be sure to check out the condition of the First Church of Christ, Scientist church building on Detroit Ave across from the library.

It’s not a pretty sight. A decent-sized section of the stone to the west of the front steps has failed.

It was designated as a historic property by the Planning Commission over the objection of its out-of-town owner.

As a historic property, the owner is mandated by law to fix the situation. It will be a good challenge for the city’s Division of Housing and Building.

It is guaranteed to be one of the best smelling storefronts in the East End.

Two Lakewood entrepreneurs have acquired the neat little building at 12405 Madison Avenue, across from the Fedor Manor, and plan to move their home-based handmade soap operation into the storefront.

Steven Meka and David Willett, owners of STEM Handmade Soap, purchased the property for $51,000 from the defunct mental health services provider Bridgeway, Inc., which closed last year. Bridgeway, Inc. had owned it since 1988, prior to that it housed a hair salon.

Meka and Willett said in an e-mail that they were attracted to the building because of its small size. “We wanted to keep it simple and self-sustaining as possible,” they said. “A small storefront with a great rental space in the rear will allow the business to thrive with little overhead.”

The Lake Avenue residents expect to open the retail space to the public during the weekends when they make soap. They also plan on making some improvements to the three-bedroom two-bathroom apartment in the rear of the property.

The duo look forward to becoming part of the East End community. It “has a lot of potential and opportunity yet untapped,” they said. “We feel it is just the beginning for this neighborhood as we join Knottily Wood, Taco Tonto and Baraco and several others to begin some forward momentum.”

In other news….Software reseller sues customer over unpaid half-million dollar debt

Onix Networking Corp., a leading Google Apps reseller, on Wednesday filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking payment from a California company on a half-million dollar debt.

In its complaint, Onix Networking accuses eTouch Systems Corp of receiving 45,000 1-year licenses to use Google Apps, but failing to pay a July 4, 2012 invoice in the amount of $499,500. eTouch Systems hasn’t yet filed a response to the lawsuit.

Onix Networking Group, based in the former Bonne Bell building on Detroit Avenue, last year signed a $35 million contract with the Department of the Interior to provide Google Apps.

Pedestrians strolling on this fantastic March Sunday afternoon.

It was an unusual sight for this time of year in the city’s largest park.

Bike racks were full, the basketball courts were busy, and well over 100 people were strolling around.

Temperatures stayed in the mid-60s for most of the afternoon, well above the 35 degree seasonal average.

Enjoy it while it lasts! Weather.com is predicting snow showers with a high of 33 degrees for Wednesday.

A short-sleeved jogger runs behind a bicycle rack at full capacity.

Basketballers enjoying the new half-courts in Lakewood Park

There was a pretty big crowd of people making use of the basketball courts. It’s only March, and it’s easy to see that the demand for hoops far exceeds the supply. It’s going to be interesting to see how the situation will be handled during summer.

The courts, by the way, were entirely built with private funds. The City Council, and particularly Councilperson Monique Smith (At-Large), had the ability to allocate some money, but balked — even though Mayor Michael Summers supported the idea. Here are the mayor’s written responses (.pdf) to Smith’s questions about the project from September 2012.

Among his contentions, the former CEO of Ferry Cap & Screw believes he was defamed when false rumors were spread regarding his role with Halstead Thermal Processing.

A former chief executive officer of Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co. has filed a lawsuit against the company accusing it of wrongfully discharging him after he complained about the “adverse and detrimental activities” of the CEO of a sister company.

Ex-CEO Joseph McAuliffe’s legal complaint alleges the problem began in January 2011 when parent company Doncasters Group Ltd indicated it was considering selling its fastener division, which is composed of Ferry Cap and Elyria-based Nelson Stud Welding, Inc.

McAuliffe took it upon himself to contact private equity groups and initiate a financial analysis of the potential sale of the company. The groups signed strict confidentiality agreements.

During the course of the process, McAuliffe claims to have uncovered information regarding the activities of Kenneth Caratelli, the CEO of Nelson Stud Welding, which was “likely to have a detrimental and adverse impact on Ferry Cap and Doncasters’ business.”

McAuliffe took his concerns to Bill Sickman, Doncasters’ human resources manager, in an effort to protect the companies’ interests. Rather than being rewarded, McAuliffe was told he was being terminated for disclosing Ferry Cap’s confidential information without authorization.

McAuliffe alleges he was actually terminated in retaliation for disclosing Caratelli’s malfeasance and believes Doncaster acted with “malice and reckless indifference” toward his fiduciary duty as CEO to protect the company.

In addition, he accuses Caratelli of convening a May 2, 2012 meeting of senior managers at Ferry Cap, where he told them McAuliffe was fired for improperly sharing private company information.

McAuliffe also accuses real estate broker Kevin M. Kelly of defamation. He claims Kelly spread a false rumor that McAuliffe was “being investigated for having an inappropriate ownership relationship with Halstead Thermal Processing,” a vendor located in the Lake Erie Screw building.

As a result of these disclosures, McAuliffe says he “has fallen into disfavor in the fastener industry,” and has lost job opportunities with Mayfran International and Precision Castparts Corp. McAuliffe admits to having had a $300,000-a-year salary as CEO of Ferry Cap.

McAuliffe is seeking damages for wrongful discharge in violation of public policy, defamation, and intentional interference with a business relationship.

Doncasters, Caratelli, and Kelly have denied any wrongdoing. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year.

In other legal news…Judge James S. Gwin last week extended until 11:00 p.m. on March 15 a temporary restraining order forcing Ferry Cap’s union workers to work overtime. Judge Gwin indicated the company could not require any employee to work more than ten hours per day on weekdays and no more than eight hours per day on either Saturday or Sunday, but not both days. Ferry Cap believes some of its workers have violated their collective bargaining contract and is suing them.

The boarded-up house may be demolished. The bowing walls are not plainly visible from the street, but the sharply bowed roof beam is a clear indication of major structural problems.

The Board of Building Standards on Thursday unanimously voted to uphold the Division of Housing and Building’s public nuisance designation of the two-family house at 1214 Gladys Avenue.

The city was tipped off about the house’s unsafe condition on January 14 by Craig Lovejoy who reluctantly e-mailed photos of the structure to the division. “I really don’t like to have to be the one to bring this to your attention but it is only a matter of time before we have a complete collapse of the roof structure,” he wrote.

Assistant Building Director Jeff Fillar told the Board that the building inspector who investigated Lovejoy’s complaint was “a little befuddled” by the scene because he’d never seen anything quite like it before.

As images of the house’s bowed exterior walls, failed roof, and contorted presence were projected onto a screen, Fillar said one of his primary concerns was the potential collapse of the structure’s brick chimney onto the residence next-door.

Fillar said the condition of the house had noticeably worsened since the nuisance designation was issued on January 29. Both natural gas and electricity service to the home had been shut off as a precaution.

Fire Marshall Timothy Dunphy toured the exterior of property and told the Board it looked like the sill plate had slipped off of the concrete foundation. He peered through an open back door and saw collapsed kitchen floor joists.

Dunphy also noticed a large hole in the rear of roof, detected a strong odor of mold and suspected the existence of major water damage.

Homeowner James Bogner, who was appealing the nuisance designation, explained to the Board that he’d been battling illness for the last two years. He was diagnosed with diabetes and had his thyroid removed last March at the Cleveland Clinic. He had been the sole occupant of the house until he was forcibly removed.

Bogner didn’t offer any defense to the city’s claims. He said a structural engineer who examined the house found that the primary load-bearing basement support beam shifted off of its support posts.

Bogner didn’t know what it would cost to repair the damage, and seemed to think it was DIY project. He said he’d been accumulating support beams and purchased 12 housejacks. “I was gonna fix it myself,” he said.

Chairman Michael Molinski summed up the Board’s position: “This is a nuisance by definition. This house is a danger.”

A little bit of caution can help keep your property safe and ensure the only time you see a firetruck up close is at the Fourth of July parade.

Thanks to advances in technology, improvements to building codes, and increased consumer product industry regulation, the total number of house fires nation-wide has dropped significantly over the past 35 years.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, 370,000 house fires occurred in 2011, a number almost equal to half of the total incidents that occurred in 1977.

Each time a structure fire occurs in the city, the Division of Fire performs an investigation to determine its cause.

Below is a list of reports covering the last 13 fires of 2012. (Two other fires to occur during this period, one at 17437 Shaw Avenue and the other at 17225 Clifton Boulevard, are still under investigation.)

Some of these incidents could have been avoided with commonsense, while others could have happened to anyone.

Tip: When cooking outdoors with a grill or smoker, extinguish the coals or ashes before returning the device to the garage. (Read report)
Incident location: Garage – single-family house
Address: 1535 Woodward Avenue
Date: November 11, 2012

Tip: If a bathroom fan stops working, check the fuse box and turn the electricity off. (Read report)
Incident location: Bathroom – apartment
Address: 1685 Lincoln Avenue
Date: November 7, 2012

Tip: If a power outage occurs while cooking on an electric stovetop, turn the burner controls to the off position. (Read report)
Incident location: Kitchen – apartment
Address: 1336 Hird Avenue
Date: October 30, 2012

Tip: When installing a natural gas-burning fireplace log, be certain it won’t generate more heat than the fireplace is rated to handle. (Read report)
Incident location: Living room – two-family house
Address: 13485 Clifton Boulevard
Date: October 30, 2012

Tip: Store outdoor garbage cans a healthy distance away from occupied structures, and don’t use a fake security camera. (Read report)
Incident location: Exterior garbage cans – apartment
Address: 1353 Mathews Avenue
Date: August 27, 2012

Tip: Limit the time of use and level of voltage when using a jury-rigged extension cord set-up. (Read report)
Incident location: Garage – single-family house
Address: 1473 Larchmont Avenue
Date: July 6, 2012

Tip: Discard smoking material in a secure container. (Read report)
Incident location: Bedroom – single-family house
Address: 1449 Parkhaven Row
Date: July 3, 2012

Tip: Hire a licensed electrician when upgrading electrical systems – and think twice before utilizing extra basement space to grow marijuana. (Read report)
Incident location: Kitchen – two-family house
Address: 2083 Quail Street
Date: June 24, 2012

Tip: Keep children away from incense burners. (Read report)
Incident location: Hallway – apartment
Address: 1385 Manor Park Avenue
Date: June 22, 2012

Tip: Discard smoking material in a secure container. (Read report)
Incident location: Garage  - single-family house
Address: 1440 Robinwood Avenue
Date: June 6, 2012

Tip: Keep yard debris a safe distance from electrical receptacles. (Read report)
Incident location: Garage – single-family house
Address: 1588 Cordova Avenue
Date: April 30, 2012

Tip: Discard smoking material in a secure container. (Read report)
Incident location: Garage – two-family house
Address: 1245-47 Brockley Avenue
Date: March 25, 2012

Tip: Don’t overload power outlets with electronic devices. (Read report)
Incident location: Living room – single-family house
Address: 1466 Ridgewood Avenue
Date: March 13, 2012

A school student waits as a train passes at the Nicholson Avenue railroad crossing.

A train rolled through the set of railroad tracks north of Detroit Avenue, known as the Nickel Plate line, on 178 separate occasions during the final three months of 2012, according to the latest data available from Norfolk Southern Corporation.

Taken all together it may seem like a lot of train traffic, but a closer look at the numbers shows a daily average of just two trains.

At least one train traveled across the rails each day with the exception of a couple of days around Christmas and then again for two days in early November when the tracks were silent.

Daily Norfolk Southern train traffic from October through December 2012. Click on the image for a larger view.

The highest number of trains to pass by in a single day was five. It happened on three separate occasions, each time on a Thursday or Friday, which tended to be the busiest days of the week.

Believe it or not, the daily average was much higher prior to 1998 when Norfolk Southern Corp. signed a memorandum of agreement with Lakewood, Bay Village, and Rocky River to cap train traffic at no more than an average of 13.9 daily.

Prior to the agreement, an average of 34 locomotives rumbled across the line each day. Norfolk Southern was able to accomplish the reduction by moving much of the traffic to its Chicago line, located south of Birdtown.

Ward 2 Councilperson Thomas Bullock a couple of years ago hosted a Public Works Committee meetings that focused on rail issues. The primary gripes concerned high decibel train horns and herbicide discharges.

Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co. is one of the oldest businesses in the region.

Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co., the city’s eighth largest employer, is accusing some its workers of refusing to work overtime to protest the company’s decision to transfer their jobs from the Templar Industrial Park near Birdtown to a facility in Elyria.

The company, which manufactures screws and fasteners used by companies like Caterpillar Inc. to produce diesel engines, filed a request for injunction on Tuesday in U.S. District Court seeking to end what it believes is an illegal strike held in violation of its collective bargaining agreement.

In its complaint, Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co. stated that should the refusal to work overtime continue, it would jeopardize the company’s ability to fulfill customer orders in a timely manner and create a “dire” situation that could cease business operations altogether.

The injunction request was filed against 13 machine operators (incidentally, none of whom reside in the city), their union representative, and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO, District Lodge 54.

The union represents 56 hourly production and maintenance workers at the facility. The city estimates the company has 120 employees in Lakewood.

Company announced equipment relocation a year ago

Doncasters Group Ltd., a global conglomerate and the owner of Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co., announced in February 2012 its intention to consolidate the operations of its fastener unit and relocate the heading equipment – the machines used to make screws and fasteners – and related personnel to its Nelson Stud Welding facility in Elyria. All employees would keep their jobs and seniority.

Doncasters indicated the move was necessary in order to create a structure based on Centers of Excellence, maximize its assets and become more competitive in the global market.

Union: Consolidation ‘just doesn’t smell right’

Within a month of the consolidation announcement, union representatives fired off a letter to Tariq Jesrai, Doncasters Group Ltd.’s chairman and chief executive officer, questioning the motives and financial sense behind the move.

The union expressed wariness that an important part of the very profitable Ferry Cap & Set Screw Co. would be disassembled to help prop up the bottom line of a lesser sister company.

The union suggested it would cost at least $1 million to relocate the equipment, and another $500,000 annually to transport parts between the two facilities, thereby diminishing any financial gain.

More pointedly, the union leveled a not-so-subtle threat and suggested if its members declined to relocate to Elyria to set-up and operate the machines, the company stood a greater than 50% chance of losing lucrative industrial customers due to supply disruptions.

The letter also contained a mention of concern about the use of consultants and managing directors who didn’t have the company’s best interests at heart.

Taken all together, “something just doesn’t smell right to us and we hope you feel the same way as well,” the letter concluded.

Relocation of heading machines used to manufacture screws like the ones seen above are at the crux of the conflict.

Union filed grievance over relocation of equipment

Since the relocation announcement was made, only two heading machines have been moved to Elyria.

The header machine operators, header wireman and auxiliary operators filed a grievance in August 2012 after one of the machines was removed during the prior month and claimed it violated terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

The grievance charged that the removal constituted a material change in the equipment available for production and could potentially impact wage hours and incentives.

In addition, it alleged an effort was being made to subcontract work to another facility “without sound economical justification” since the machine was not generating a greater output and was said to be inoperable at the time of the grievance.

The union members’ desired settlement included retroactive wages to December 2007, and the more generous hourly wage increases contained in the prior union contract.

The grievance is scheduled for arbitration next month.

Company demands union action to halt ‘economic pressure’

It is not clear from court documents when exactly workers at Ferry Cap and Set Screw Co. allegedly began to refuse to take part in overtime activities.

On January 18, the company’s director of operations, Steve Duplessis, sent a communication to union representative Jack K. Baker seeking an end to the situation.

In the missive, Duplessis accused the machine operators of “refusing to work overtime as part of a concert effort to put economic pressure” on the company. He suggested the action is regarded as an work stoppage in violation of the union contact that states, “There shall be no strikes, stoppages or slowdowns by the Union…”

Duplessis revealed the company is investigating the possibility of terminating the machine operators and taking action against the Union for breach of contract.

According to the contract, the operators’ annual salary is between $44,408 and $49,358.

He asked the Union to disavow the activities of the machine operators and to instruct them to “resume their normal work habits and accept overtime work in accordance with their usual practice.”

What’s the future of Ferry Cap and Set Screw Co. in Lakewood?

It’s not known exactly how many jobs are leaving Lakewood for Elyria, nor is it known what the move will mean for Ferry Cap and Set Screw Co.’s future in the city.

Union representative Jack K. Baker did not return telephone requests to comment on the situation.  Ferry Screw representative Ed Huber also did not respond to telephone and e-mail requests to elaborate on the matter.

The company moved its headquarters to Lakewood in 2008, after spending more than 110 years on Scranton Road in the Flats.  It employed about 160 people that year and leased about 140,000 square feet in the Lake Erie Building complex, according to a Plain Dealer report at the time.

Crain’s Cleveland Business reported the company filled in part of the 300,000 square feet of space vacated when Lake Erie Screw moved from the 500,000 square-foot complex to Frankfort, KY in 2004.

The property is located on the northeast corner of Quail Street and Thrush Street, near Harrison Elementary School.

A little more than a year after hosting its final mass, the St. Gregory the Theologian Byzantine Catholic Church property has been listed for sale at $189,900.

Included along with the nearly 90-year-old brick 12,000-square-foot church building is a two-family home and a 50-space parking lot. It all looks to be in pretty good shape from the outside and might make for an interesting redevelopment project to lure some more artistic-types to the Birdtown neighborhood with live-work space.

Hopefully, a buyer will emerge soon because the city’s notorious marauding vandals have already begun to pick on the structure.

Police last Thursday noticed that the church was missing a large stained glass window. A temporary plexiglass window was placed in the empty space but fell out. Police left a message with the realtor about the situation.

On Sunday, a citizen walked by and was startled to find the window missing and the building open to the elements. He notified the Division of Housing and Building and called the realtor who explained that the window had been stolen, according to the church bishop. An officer driving by on Monday morning again noticed that the window was missing. He checked the doors to the church and found them to be locked. He reported the incident to dispatch and was told efforts had been made to reach the  realtor.

As of Tuesday evening, the window remained missing.

With copper pipe thieves being especially active recently, this is a disaster waiting to happen.

Real estate round-up….

In other real estate news around the city…the restaurant and bar business in this town can be difficult. Ask Patrick Sullivan. After selling his business, Sullivan’s Irish Pub, to someone who quickly ran it into the ground, Sullivan was forced to surrender the building at 13368 Madison Avenue to his lender in order to stave off foreclosure. It now sits vacant…Forest City Land Group snapped up the vacant former Bischof Interiors building at corner of Fry Avenue and Detroit Avenue for $225,000. It’s in the footprint of the stalled Rockport Square project. Forest City spokesperson Jeff Linton was unable to offer a comment on the move. Lakewood Director of Planning and Development Dru Siley said he wasn’t aware of any pending news about the project… Former Forest City and Rockport Square spokesperson Bill Sanderson has purchased the model unit at 11917 Detroit Avenue for $165,000. The original list price was $399,000. Sanderson recently started his own company…Developer Andrew Brickman acquired the vacant former Irish Cottage on Sloane Avenue through a foreclosure auction. AOL’s Lakewood Patch reported he has plans to throw up some high-end condos on the space…Zaremba Lakewood LLC, developer of the new McDonald’s on Detroit Avenue, sold the property to Levine Investments Limited for a little over $1.4 million…McDonald’s officially sold its old Sloane Avenue property to the Nature’s Bin people for $285,000 with a covenant prohibiting any type of restaurant from being there for the next 20 years — with the exception of the planned culinary training facility…The former Two Dads’ Diner building was purchased for $110,000 via a foreclosure auction by two Westlake residents…The former Red Rooster store at 12901 Detroit Avenue, near the future DrugMart changed hands for $160,000. It still sits vacant…Melt’s Matt Fish has sold his Clifton Park pad and relocated to Cleveland. Charles Geiger of Geiger’s Clothing and Sports traded in his Kenneth Drive house for a place in Clifton Park, where former Cleveland Indians team physician Dr. Louis Keppler has also purchased a property for over $1 million.

A city snow plow truck clears Clarence Ave. on Wednesday evening. The city fired a snow plow truck driver in March after he consumed alcohol while on duty.

Jonathan Blazek had a decent thing going. He joined the Public Works Department in 1988 as a night watchman and worked his way up over the next 23 years becoming a brush chipper operator, then a mechanic, and finally a streets-forestry worker. The Olmsted Falls resident earned a salary of nearly $59,000 in 2011.

Things took an unfortunate turn in mid-March of this year when Blazek, a self-acknowledged alcoholic, volunteered to work a 4 p.m. to midnight “winter shift” as a snow plow operator. Just 15 minutes before quitting time, he was sent home after it was discovered that he’d been drinking while on the job. His employment with the city was terminated three days later.

Blazek in April filed complaints with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging he was unlawfully discriminated against based on alcoholism, which is a legally recognized disability. The EEOC terminated its investigation in August after finding that there was no probable cause to believe discrimination occurred.

Undeterred, Blazek last month filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking reinstatement, full back pay, and attorney fees.

Blaczek accuses the city of wrongfully firing him, inflicting emotional distress, causing a loss of consortium, and violating the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Ohio Civil Rights Act by discriminating against him because he’s an alcoholic.

The city admits it knew that Blazek had problems with alcohol, but denies any wrongdoing. It also disputes Blazek’s claim that he hadn’t had any prior disciplinary infractions.

The matter is before Judge Patricia A. Gaughn. A preliminary case management conference on the issue is set for January 11.

Legal round-up: County judge affirms Planning Commission’s historic designation of church; Grace Ave. residents settle Discount Drug Mart dispute

A recent rumor suggested a bank was interested in buying the building.

Cuyahoga County Court Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold earlier this month affirmed the Planning Commission’s designation of the First Church of Christ, Scientist building on Detroit Avenue as a historic property.

California Phone, Inc., the out-of-state owner of the building, had filed an appeal because it felt the property didn’t meet the criteria nor did it believe the Commission followed the proper procedures. Judge Saffold disagreed on all counts. It is not known if the company will file any other appeals.

 In other legal news….a settlement was reached on Thursday regarding the appeal filed by Grace Avenue residents Annie Caswell and Don Tollett over the Commission’s approval of the Discount Drug Mart project in Ward 4. More details are expected to be released soon…Cohassett Avenue resident Aumar A. Salti has withdrawn his lawsuit against the city. Salti was riding a bike in the street on the west side of Waterbury Road, south of Madison Avenue, when he hit a pothole, fell to the ground, and broke his wrist in two places.