Photo by Jody Grant _ Dozens of evicted residents from the Budgetel were in Hamilton County Criminal Court on Monday to observe the nuisance abatement hearing.

Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Boyd Patterson said he wants to inspect the Budgetel later this week to learn more about what led to the request to close it.

At the conclusion of a Monday hearing, Patterson said he’s “interested in how we got here and interested in moving forward.”

The Budgetel, East Ridge’s largest extended-stay motel, was shuttered on November 16 by court order. Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp claimed the facility where about 400 people live, is rampant with crime and therefore a public nuisance. 

At Monday’s hearing, General Wamp called on law enforcement personnel and codes officials to document thousands of calls for service over a three-year period at the extended-stay motel, and the substandard living conditions that exist in the building that was first constructed in the 1970s.

Chris Clem, the attorney for Budgetel owner Amish Patel, pointed out that the statute allows a pathway for the defendant to remedy the situation. Clem also asked for the owner to have access to the building.

Clem said that Patel needs to walk through the building with contractors to get estimates to make repairs and a timeframe for those repairs.

Jean Bartley, with Hamilton County 911, testified that more than 2,000 calls came in to the center since January 2019 from 1410 N. Mack Smith Road, the Budgetel address. During cross examination, Clem asked if all the calls were for disturbing the peace or public nuisance calls? Bartley said they were not.

Josh Creel, Assistant Police Chief for the East Ridge Police Department, testified that 35 percent of all calls from the city’s 11 motels were generated by the Budgetel.

Torrey Holder, a code enforcement officer for the city, testified that she found more than 20 code violations at the Budgetel during an October inspection. 

During Monday’s two-hour hearing, Judge Patterson said he would not be able to rule on two motions to intervene by two attorneys representing some of the residents. Attorney Charles Wright was in court on behalf of 73 residents who wanted access to the Budgetel to retrieve personal property. He claimed the eviction violated his clients’ constitutional rights.

Judge Patterson said after his walk-though of the Budgetel on Friday, he would announce a decision in a hearing on December 12.