Winona Aldermen agreed during their regular meeting on Tuesday to condemn the Hitching Post motel after hearing about criminal activity and code violations at the business.
Police Chief Roshaun Daniels told board members in the past year, officers have responded to 148 calls, four drug raids, two rapes, two overdoses and one infant death at the motel.
“It’s a menace, and it’s a nuisance to public health,” said Daniels in an interview after the meeting. “We’ve arrested people with felony warrants from different cities at the Hitching Post. How did they find the Hitching Post?”
He said Winona police has arrested people from other states at the hotel.
“It was a lot going on there,” said Daniels.
Alderman Charles Harris, who made the motion to condemn the motel, said city officials have received a lot of complaints from citizens about the motel.“[Winona police] are steadily being called up there at all times,” said Harris in an interview after the meeting. “If that much has happened in a year, what has happened before that.”
Harris said if the property had not been condemned, “it’s just going to get worse.”
Harris added that every motel in Winona underwent inspection in recent months, but only one had significant code violations.
Daniels suggested the condemnation of the establishment after the owner of the property neglected to correct numerous code violations identified by the Mississippi State Fire Marshal during an Oct. 6 inspection of the property.
“It just wasn’t up to code with the regulations. It was just a hazard with all the naked wires,” said Daniels.
The inspection “was conducted to ensure that the business was in compliance with the 2018 IFC regulations adopted by the City of Winona,” according to a Notice of Incompliance Daniels gave to board members.
The document showed that the motel was violating 11 safety regulations, of which the owner fixed one violation – “extension cords marked for indoor use shall not be used outdoors.”
The owner partially fixed another violation, “open junction boxes and open-wiring splices shall be prohibited. Approved covers shall be provided for all switch and electrical outlet boxes.”
Other violations included but were not limited to:
• Extension cords and flexible cords shall not be a substitute for permanent wiring. Extension cords and flexible cords shall not be affixed to structures, extended through walls, ceilings, floors or under doors or floor coverings, nor shall such cords be subject to environmental damage or physical impact.
• Single or multiple-station smoke alarms shall be installed or maintained in Groups R-2, R-3, R-4 and I-1, regardless of occupant load.
• Combustible material shall not be stored in boiler rooms, mechanical rooms, electrical equipment rooms or in fire command centers.
• Open junction boxes and open-wiring splices shall be prohibited.
• Multiplug adapters, such as cube adapters, unfused plug strips or any other device not complying with NFPA70 shall be prohibited.
• Storage of materials in buildings shall be orderly and stacks shall be stable. Storage of combustible material shall be separated from heaters or heating devices by distance or shielding so that ignition cannot occur.
• Accumulation of combustible dust shall be kept to a minimum in the interior of the buildings.
Officials allowed the owner 30 days to correct the violations. However, since many of the issues were not addressed, the Winona Police Department – which enforces regulations, enforced a “cease of business” for the Hitching Post and served a notice of incompliance on Nov. 2.
“I will call for the public hearing on it at the first board meeting in January,” Daniels said.
