Johnson City provided little new information Monday about why it attempted to shut off power at the Haven of Mercy homeless shelter last Friday.
The city did provide a copy of an order issued by Chief Building Official Jeff Canon, which repeats a section of city code that states the chief building official has the authority to disconnect power and other utilities if they pose a danger to inhabitants.
The order asks that service be disconnected from the property, located at 123 W. Millard St., until itâs cleared by a city inspector.
Reached Monday afternoon, Canon directed a Johnson City Press reporter to the cityâs media relations department.
Johnson City attempted to shut off power at the Haven of Mercy homeless shelter Friday evening, but BrightRidge employees were denied access, a BrightRidge spokesman said.
Tim Whaley, BrightRidgeâs director of public and governmental affairs, said the power company received a request from the cityâs building department to shut off electricity to the Haven of Mercy due to code violations.
Whaley said BrightRidge officials attempted to gain access to the building to shut off power, but they were denied access. As of Friday evening, power remained on at the Haven of Mercy, according to Whaley.
A Press reporter on the scene reported seeing a BrightRidge truck, along with several Johnson City police officers, but the officers and the truck left shortly after.
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Interim Johnson City Fire Chief David Bell plans to move forward soon with construction of a new fire training facility, and heâs hoping Washington County will get on board to help pay for it.
The county agencies would have access to the training ground to conduct classroom and live action hands-on experience at the range of training stations that will be on the site.
For Washington County residents, if the volunteer departments have access to the facility, it could lower their departmentsâ ISO ratings, which in turn could give residents a lower homeowners insurance cost.
âWe are in the process in Johnson City of building a training facility now,â Bell told the Washington County Public Safety Committee last week. âWe had a small one, but it wasnât up to the standards we needed. Weâve moved forward with what we have in our budget and are in the process of building a burn cell, a (rappelling) tower. The second phase is going to be classrooms.â