STEUBENVILLE — Building Official Tim Maurer defended the city’s handling of what’s been described as “uninhabitable” conditions at the Fort Steuben Mall, pushing back on one councilman’s concerns about the verbiage of signs posted on the doors warning conditions inside are “dangerous.”

The notices were posted a month ago after building inspectors deemed the mall unsafe for occupancy. Among the concerns outlined in their report were shifting storefront facades with displaced glass panels, uneven flooring with major concrete deviations, broken skylight glass, roof leaks, odors indicative of possible mold or mildew and large, deep potholes in the parking lot and on Mall Drive. The mall’s owner, Total Finance, was given 30 days to decide whether to hire a consultant to devise a plan to address the various alleged code violations or close the entire building, except for seven freestanding businesses — 7 Ranges, J.C. Penney, Walmart, Texas Roadhouse, Eat’n Park, The Shoe Department Encore, Aspen Dental and Dunham’s Sporting Goods — that would be exempted from the “fix it or close it” ultimatum.

Councilman Royal Mayo, though, has repeatedly complained that potential customers are being scared away by the notices, which Maurer said alert the public and employees that the mall has been declared “uninhabitable, dangerous and unsafe” and shoppers to “keep out.”

“The sign is basically…declaring that it’s unsafe,” Maurer said. “The verbiage doesn’t change much when it gets condemned. If it gets condemned, it just adds to it that it’s ‘CONDEMNED’ above it — the difference, primarily, being that once it’s condemned the public, nobody’s allowed to enter. We gave them a courtesy, just declaring it unsafe initially, so that everybody wasn’t out right from the start.”

Maurer said the department follows International Property Maintenance Code.

“Technically we should have condemned it immediately but, having a heart, we were trying to work with people a little bit, to be a little bit more fair, and just declare it unsafe,” he said. “It says what it says, it says ‘Keep Out’ for a reason. We’re not encouraging people to come in there because it’s not a safe structure.”

Maurer said that technically no one is allowed in the mall, “but we can’t prosecute or per se arrest anybody for going in there when it’s just deemed uninhabitable. When it’s condemned, then we can take legal action.”

Mayo said if the signs said “enter at your own risk, maybe. But if it says ‘keep out’ it’s business, I mean, pretty much.” He said the average person “will read (the sign) but assume they’re not allowed in there.”

“Correct,” Maurer replied. “And that’s the intention. We don’t want them in there.”

“But if you’re still allowed in there then the order doesn’t hold water,” Mayo persisted. “If you’re allowed in there, what I’m saying is this is kind of deceiving to a consumer. If I walk up to that building some people might go in, some won’t. I’m kind of confused on if you’re allowed in there or not.”

He then demanded to know what “catastrophic event” led to the building being slapped with code violations and requested documentation. Maurer said he’d been monitoring it since November “and there’s been continued, continuous deterioration and movement in the mall so at that point, I’ve noticed an unsafe situation.”

“If you’re at the mall and you don’t feel like that’s an unsafe situation, then that’s another problem,” Maurer continued. “I’m here to protect the best interests and health and safety of the public.”

Mayo then suggested he “doesn’t need (Maurer) to explain himself because that’s not what he asked (him).”

Mayor Ralph Petrella interrupted the exchange, telling Mayo it was time to move on to another topic, but Mayo interrupted him.

“No, no, wait a minute,” Mayo insisted. “I’m gonna finish what I’m saying: I am a councilman…these are our employees. There’s no back-and-forth. The employee’s job is to answer the questions their bosses ask, nothing more. They need to understand.”

City Manager Mike Johnson, however, pointed out employees answer to him, not council. He said “we all” need to be respectful of each other, repeating, “(But) I’m their boss, not council.”

“No, no, you’re their supervisor,” Mayo insisted. “We (council members) are all their bosses.”

Johnson told him he was mistaken, suggesting he needs to “read the charter.”

Later, Johnson said he is “100 percent confident that the building department is correct in what they’re doing.”

“There’s some serious issues out at that mall and I believe the structural engineer that has been employed by the mall through McKinley & Associates realize that there’s serious issues,” he said.