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Uncertainty surrounds El Bronco Motel`s future

Dec 16, 2016 | 4:36 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Residents at a local motel in the city are facing an unknown future after the hotel was allegedly declared condemned, though residents say they are hearing mixed messages from the owner of the property.

On Dec. 7, a complaint about the living conditions at the El Bronco Motel was filed to Alberta Health Services.

The motel resident, who declined an on-camera interview with CHAT Television, said the owner of the motel turned off the heat and a water pipe burst during the evening. The woman said a number of residents were put up in another hotel as the heat would not return.

Both AHS and the Medicine Hat Fire Department confirm they responded to the El Bronco that evening, as well as the Red Cross.

“We were activated by local authorities,” said Shelly Makrugin, communications advisor with the Red Cross, over the phone from Calgary. “The assistance we provided were lodging and food for 72 hours to nine individuals.”

The woman said a health inspector told her the El Bronco would condemned for not being up to code and residents would have to find a new place to live by the end of the month.

“Everybody’s scrambling right now to try to find places because they have been giving the notice and stuff and telling people that they only have until the end of the month to be out and that it is being condemned,” she said. “Then there are the stories that it is not getting condemned, and it is. Nobody knows the real thing on it.”

The owner of the motel declined an on-camera interview with CHAT Television.

AHS told CHAT Television they can’t comment on specific cases, but confirmed they would be following up on this one.

“As long as they’re following the legislation and rules, that’s when we’re satisfied, but until that time comes, we would continue to follow up and work with the operator of the business or the owner of the building,” said James Frey, communications director with AHS – South Zones.

The woman said the events of Dec. 7 were a catalyst for her to find a new place to live, and although having it happen before Christmas was stressful, she has now found a new place to live.

The woman does not believe anyone else currently living there should have to deal with the circumstances.

“I do my dishes in my bathroom tub,” she said. “My kitchen sink doesn’t work. my cupboards come right off. I don’t believe people should be paying $700, $650 … It’s crazy around here how much (the owner) charges for a dump.”