Ellington

City code enforcement performed a site inspection of A-1 Pallets on Mill Street last week, one day after Municipal Judge Melvin Priester signed a search and inspection warrant for the business.

A-1 Pallet employees refused entry to city code inspectors and the fire department Tuesday morning. Business owner Charlotte Reeves claims that police insisted a flock of reporters enter with them, though Code Enforcement Manager Joe Lewis said he had not made such a demand.

Inspectors went back and got a warrant and attempted to serve it Wednesday night, but the business appeared empty.

Police, inspectors, Deputy Fire Marshal Michael Sterling, Deputy City Attorney Jonathan Walker, Officer Sidney Gladney and other city officials were on hand Thursday morning to give it another try, however. Code enforcement officers said they found numerous violations, though Gladney would not elaborate.

Tony LeBlanc, a friend of Reeves who tailed officers as they scrutinized the grounds, said officers had listed violations such as blocked doors, an inaccessible fire lane, broken windows and the presence of pigeons, among other violations.

"The building passed code inspections last year, with the same structures in place and in the same state. Heck, even the pigeons were here. I don't know what made it different this time," LeBlanc said.

Melton declared war on A-1 Pallets this week, telling department heads that he didn't "want to see (A-1 Pallets) sitting there at the end of the year." Removing the company may be an uphill battle, however. A-1 Pallets occupies an old soybean mill—from which Mill Street gets its name—inside the Historic Farish Street District. The mill is protected by the Department of Archives and History, among other agencies.

Reeves said her business generates about $40,000 a year in property taxes and argues that it wasn't meant to look pretty.

"It's in an industrial area. There's a railroad yard across the street. What are they expecting it to be?" Reeves demanded.