Residents left in dark after power shut off at Fredericton motel

More than two dozen people living in a Fredericton motel are being forced to relocate.

More than 25 residents – many of whom are low-income seniors – at a Fredericton motel have been left in the dark and without water as they search for a new place to live.

In a letter dated June 14, the owner of the Airport Inn off Lincoln Road told residents the building is shutting down. The letter came a day after residents were told they would be without power for an unspecified amount of time due to various issues.

“On Friday the 13th around 8:30 a.m., NB Power shut off the power for the building,” Airport Inn owner and manager Yingchun Su told CTV News Atlantic in an email. “We tried to work with him to run a temporary line from the other building to hook up well and hot water heater. He said it’s not safe. If we do that, he will shut the other building off.”

Later that same day, officials with the utility sent Su a two-page long list outlining necessary repairs needed for the building. Once she realized the repairs would be too much, she let tenants know the building would be shutting down.

“It was never my intention to give people such a short notice,” says the owner. “In the 22 years of running the business, I worked really hard to keep the rent as low as possible.”

Most tenants were paying anywhere from $530 to $590 a month with utilities, TV, and internet included, which is why many of them have lived at the motel just outside the city for more than a decade.

A joint statement from the New Brunswick Department of Public Safety and NB Housing Corporation says significant safety concerns at the Inn were identified earlier in June. When measures to address the problems were not met by a deadline, power to the building was cut off due to safety concerns related to “significant electrical issues.”

The Housing Corporation points out a number of housing programs offered to residents who are finding challenges with securing a new place to live. Many of the programs need people to meet several eligibility requirements, before being put on a housing wait list for an unspecified amount of time.

May Wyile has lived at the Airport Inn for 17 years. She admits there have been ups and downs in her time living off Lincoln Road but never anything like this.

She says there hasn’t been much communication from the owner about the situation since it began. As she and others look for a new place to live, she is still staying at the Inn without lights or water.

“The first day was devastating enough,” says Wyile. “Now as the days are going on, it’s more devastating because now we get to try to carry our water in the flusher toilet, we got to carry around drinking water, we got to find ways to cook with propane barbecue, and we’re buying food every day because our food in the fridge is all rotted.”

Wyile says trying to find apartments is hard enough without internet, and the ones she does find are three times more then what she is paying for rent now.

“Some people are kind of trying to keep their sense of humor up by saying they’re going to become homeless, get some tents and camp out here,” says fellow tenant Lorna Veniot. “Well, I’m going to be the one that’s watching the stars, because I can’t even afford the damn tent right now.”

Wylie and Veniot say everyone still living in the powerless motel is working together to help each other. Neither are sure how long they will live in the conditions before finding somewhere else.

Green Party Leader David Coon, who is also the MLA for Fredericton Lincoln, calls it a “horrible situation” and says he has been in contact with the government to try and help affected residents.A representative from his office stopped by the Inn today to help residents with applications forms for various government housing programs.

“Something’s got to be done this week,” says Coon. “This happened to tenants late last week. I found out about it on Monday, and ever since we’ve been working to try and get it addressed.”

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.