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‘The water in here tasted a little off’: NY residents say mice were in water heaters

PERINTON, N.Y. — Residents at an upstate New York apartment complex are complaining about conditions since a fire in January displaced 65 people -- including a water crisis where mice are allegedly crawling out of water heaters.

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The complaints are being leveled at the Pines of Perinton, according to WHAM-TV. The complex was issued six appearance tickets for 26 code violations in six apartments, Town Supervisor Ciaran Hanna announced Thursday.

Violations included water leaks, drywall damage, kitchen and bathroom repairs, window repairs and rodent infestation, according to the television station.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the state condemned this place tomorrow,” Tim Seegler, president of the complex’s tenants association, told WROC-TV. “I found five boiled mice that came out of the water heater.”

Seegler said the rodent issue began when one of the complex’s main water heaters exploded.

Former resident Penny Morse, who moved away from the complex due to the alleged conditions, said she was not surprised about the mice.

“I always thought the water in here tasted a little off,” Morse told WROC.

The town said that WinnCompanies, owners of Pines of Perinton, only completed two of eight current violations, WHEC-TV reported. The violations were issued on July 13 and had a compliance date by the end of July.

“Code enforcement is a serious matter and one that we do not take lightly in the Town of Perinton,” Hanna told the television station. “The Town will continue to do our part to hold the Pines of Perinton accountable for providing safe and healthy living conditions for their almost 1,200 residents.

Seegler said WinnCompanies contacted him in a letter and said the water was suitable to drink.

“Many of you were concerned with the water been contaminated,” the company said in a statement. “The Monroe County Public Health Department came out to test the water. We received the sampling results that indicated at the time of sampling, all parameters analyzed were found to be satisfactory.”

Seegler said he does not buy the explanation.

“But we are not drinking it!” Seegler told WROC.

Town officials said the property owners will appear in court on Friday to address the code violations unless they are fixed before then, the television station reported.

The Pines of Perinton was built in 1976 and has 508 units, WHAM reported.

In a statement to WHAM, a spokesperson for the apartment complex said it is “committed to resolving these issues,” and that more than 4,100 work orders have been completed this year.

“We have tried to address the maintenance issues in these six apartments multiple times in the last three weeks, but the residents have not cooperated with our maintenance teams or repair vendors, the statement said. “In some cases, our teams and vendors have been met with hostile and abusive language, threats of harm and inappropriate conduct. In others, contractors have been repeatedly denied access to apartments on the scheduled day of work. These challenges have made it impossible for us to make repairs.

“We are committed to resolving these issues as soon as possible and hope the residents of these apartments cooperate with our efforts.”