Amid major snowfall, heating issues plague Lansing apartments

LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Those who live in one South Lansing apartment complex said they spent last week’s Christmas blizzard in the cold.

Two residents of the Marvin Gardens apartment complex even said that they are moving units or will leave the complex totally.

Complex owners said they are working to catch up on the most recent heating and flooding problems despite the holidays. They additionally said via email that contractors were brought in to repair both issues for Sunday and Monday.

Resident Faith Morehart said the problems started well before last week. During the storm, she had to stay warm by layering up in coats and blankets until the heat came back on Monday.

While she is glad to see some progress, Faith is worried about the future since winter is officially in season.

“I have a cat, I have no idea how he stayed warm,” said Morehart. Then there’s some people have kids, I have no idea how they did it. The main reason I’m worried about this is because if I’m cold and I know it’s dangerous to the kids because some are two months old.”

Some units at Marvin Gardens Apartments have already been pink-tagged by City of Lansing officials– citing code compliance issues.

Apartment owners have contested the pink-tagging, saying the code issues have been fixed.

The complex faces another inspection later in the week.

The apartment owner’s full statement can be read below:

We were made aware of a leak in the 1001/1003 building at Marvin Gardens Apartments on Sunday, December 25th at approximately 12:00 PM. As soon as we were made aware of the situation, we worked diligently to get our plumbing contractor to the property despite the holiday. Our plumbing contractor arrived on scene at approximately 1:45pm. Between the time the plumber arrived and 6:00 PM, we were able to locate the leak, determine the cause and stop the area from actively leaking. Later that afternoon our mechanical contractor was called on-site to try and restore the boilers as best he could for the time being with the holiday. Our plumbing, electrical and mechanical contractors were all on site first thing today (12/26) to solve the issue. At this time, we have the boiler system back up and running at the 1001/1003 building and are waiting for the parts needed to restore the 927/929 building. Due to the holiday, we were unable to obtain the parts needed for the boiler in the 927/929 building. We dispersed space heaters to all tenants for the time being and will have the heat back on tomorrow in this building. Both water heaters will be fully operational tomorrow (12/27) as we were unable to get the necessary parts today (12/26) due to the holiday.

In regards to the 12/28 deadline for code compliance issues with the city; these issues have all been addressed and resolved. We have been in close contact with the city and will have them back out this week for our reinspection.

Brad Simtob, Simtob Management & Investment LLC