Some Pines of Perinton tenants frustrated by ongoing maintenance problems

PERINTON, N.Y. (WHEC) — Tenants inside the Pines of Perinton complex are still frustrated with what they’re calling maintenance problems.

About a month ago we took you through some of the units inside the complex. Some tenants had mice, mold and more. Town officials told News10NBC’s Stephanie Duprey they’re not at the point where they would issue appearance tickets to Winn Companies, owner of the complex, but they’ve had to be more involved than a town typically would be.

The last time we spoke to the town, it said there were about eight open work orders that had a compliance date or plan to address date.

The town said those are a mix of completed and work in progress. Monday, it said it has nine new work orders. The majority of those are roof and water leak issues. News10NBC went back to the pines Monday and met up with one of the tenants we saw a month ago. They’re still having issues.

Carrie McCullough, Pines of Perinton Tenant: "My son said, a mouse and I jumped, the mouse jumped near my foot."

News10NBC Reporter Stephanie Duprey: “And is that why you put all these traps out?”

McCullough: “Yes all over.”

A month later, rat traps and fear of future water damage are still lingering for McCullough’s family who’s lived inside the complex for decades. McCullough said her ceiling was damaged and falling apart. Recently it was fixed, but the repairs made over and over aren’t fixing the root causes, it’s just "maintaining them", she said.

"The part that he’s supposed to be doing is right up here. All he did was put plaster on it, sand it down, and put a different color paint on it.”

Greg Siegfred, the town’s building codes director says nine new work orders are mostly water damage.

"I don’t know the condition of the roof on the facility I don’t know if some of these leaks are related to a deteriorating roof, but a roof project on a facility like that is a major investment,” Siegfred said.

Siegfred added, that the town has been physically present to ensure work orders are done properly, which he says is not typical.

“There were a couple of occasions where they stated a repair was done, we checked with the tenant and it wasn’t done correctly, or up to a reasonable standard, so we had to re-engage them and asked them to address those things again.”

News10NBC was there in February. New York State Sen. Samra Brouk (D, 55) was too, taking a tour of those units. This complex is in her district. She says she’s had a meeting with Winn Companies recently.

"They did listen, they are going door to door at the property this week I believe, someone with the management company along with an external party would go door to door, to investigate the pest issues and to rectify them,” Brouk said.

We asked McCullough if she’s been notified of a possible visit and right now she says no. Winn Companies told says that they expect to start redeveloping the complex later this year. In a statement to us Monday the company said:

“We are responding to service requests promptly and we continue to urge residents to report issues to the on-site management team as soon as they arise. We have increased the number of apartments receiving routine weekly pest control service and also have increased the number of bait stations on the property.

"We also have begun a comprehensive inspection of every apartment to determine what further steps might be needed to reduce or eliminate remaining pest issues and prevent future problems. We appreciate the support and patience of residents since thoroughly inspecting all 500 apartments will take some time.

"We do our best to resolve maintenance issues as soon as they are reported. In some cases, however, we encounter the same issues that homeowners do when there are delays in getting contractors or parts.

"The redevelopment of the Pines of Perinton is expected to begin later this year.”