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Warren again issues stop-work order to owner of former Delphi Packard buildings
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A city department has issued a stop-work order for a second time to Sergio DiPaolo of Girard, owner of the former Delphi Packard buildings on Dana and Griswold streets.
The Warren Engineering, Planning and Building Department issued the order Tuesday to DiPaolo Industrial Development LLC, saying the company failed to renew its contractor’s registration to work in the city and failed to renew its demolition permit for the former Delphi facilities. It expired in September 2012, the notice says.
DiPaolo bought the buildings in early 2011.
The notice says the Warren Fire Department has responded to the buildings three times since May for “what appears to be three open-burning incidents.”
The registration-renewal cost is $400. The demolition-permit cost is $15,525, which is three times the normal rate because it is the second time the company failed to obtain such a permit, the order says.
DiPaolo said he doesn’t understand why the city is concerned now about permits when they expired in 2012 and he hasn’t done any demolition there for eight months.
There is a person who goes there to feed security dogs that are kept in the buildings, and that person has used the building to work on a car, DiPaolo said, adding that person apparently started the most-recent fire.
The fire department reported it responded to the building on Dana Street and Paige Avenue Northeast on Friday for smoke coming from the building.
Firefighters cut the chain to get into the facility and were chased away by guard dogs. A worker then appeared and told firefighters the smoke was from copper being cut for demolition, according to a fire department report.
In May, the fire department responded to one of the buildings for a fire that involved two large piles of rubbish. In June, the fire department went there to extinguish another small trash fire.
The first time the company was ordered to stop working in the buildings was in January 2011, just after DiPaolo bought them from Delphi Packard Electric for $80,000.
That order was issued when Warren police discovered DiPaolo and some of his workers inside the buildings the day he bought them.
Workers were removing salvageable items from the building, but Delphi had not notified city officials of the sale, and the work was not allowed because DiPaolo had not applied for a demolition permit.
In November 2011, DiPaolo Industrial Development and the city reached an agreement on parameters for the company’s demolition activities, according to city records.