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Four Seasons Motel evictions served

The Inter-Mountain photo by Anthony Gaynor Officers from the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, assisted by the Elkins Police Department, served eviction notices to residents of the Four Seasons Motel in Elkins Tuesday.

ELKINS — Eviction notices have been served to residents of the Four Seasons Motel, officials said.

On Tuesday, residents of the motel, which is in the process of being purchased by the City of Elkins, received eviction notices drafted by property owner Don Smith’s attorney, Mike Mullens. Notices were served by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Elkins Police Department, Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco told The Inter-Mountain Thursday.

“I believe they all” received eviction notices Tuesday, Marco said of the motel residents.

“The city has nothing to do with the evictions,” Marco told The Inter-Mountain. “All we’re looking to do is, once the property is vacated, we will be purchasing that.”

Randolph County Sheriff Rob Elbon confirmed the department serves eviction notices at the behest of property owners and landlords.

“If a property owner or landlord brings in an eviction, we’ll serve it,” Elbon told The Inter-Mountain.

Elbon could not confirm how many eviction notices were served to the motel’s residents Tuesday.

Elkins City Hall released a press statement Tuesday saying Don Smith has owned the motel property since 2012, and granted Bruce Howell authority to operate the property to provide residential rental living units, with Howell functioning as a “landlord.”

Marco told The Inter-Mountain Thursday the contract between Smith and Howell was dissolved in 2024 due to “several violations that were not corrected.”

“I feel that the City of Elkins has let these tenants down because our previous operations manager, and especially the code enforcement officer, did not do their job,” Marco said. “They turned a blind eye to several violations, which is why the property got to the point it was. It’s why we have the issues that we have.”

The press release from City Hall also states that on Nov. 21, 2024, Elkins City Council authorized Marco to negotiate the purchase of this property from Smith.

Marco confirmed with The Inter-Mountain Thursday that council voted to give him the authority to sign the contract for the purchase during an executive session at the Nov. 21 City Council meeting.

After that executive session ended, no mention was made during the remainder of the council meeting that a vote had taken place during the session.

Marco, noting that the city will be buying the property from Smith once all the tenants have vacated, declined Thursday to announce the cost of the purchase at this time.

“So it was a letter of intent of purchase, is what it was,” Marco said, “But they have to meet all the requirements in (the contract) for that to happen, because we will not take over the property before it is vacated.”

When asked about backlash in the community over the eviction notices being served on New Year’s Eve, Marco explained that it was out of the city’s hands as to when the notices were served.

“The evictions were based on the timeline from Don Smith’s attorney,” Marco said. “We were trying to get eviction notices out earlier, to be honest with you, but we were waiting for them… So we’ve been in those negotiations, so that time frame wasn’t ours.”

Marco also expressed frustration with those in the community who have argued that the evictions and sale of the property will just increase homelessness in Elkins.

“If they’re that concerned, we’ve had a task force against homelessness and addiction for over three and half years,” Marco said. “They could have been attending meetings all along… At the end of the day, we have a problem in this town and I have to think about the over 7,000 citizens that have been putting up with this blight in this community because of the illegal activities that’s been taking place for too many years.”

Marco said, because the city “doesn’t technically house people,” city officials are working with partner agencies to help house individuals who cannot find living arrangements after the evictions.

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