Youth Group Has Two Weeks to Comply with Fire Code

is in violation of Smyrna fire code, but contrary to previous reports is current on its rent.

According to , no one is allowed in , unless repairs are made to bring the building up to code.

Lanyon said Smyrna’s fire marshal inspected the building in February and found several violations. The property holder, Melchi Catholic, was given 30 days to make necessary repairs. At an inspection last week, it was found that these violations had not been addressed and occupancy of the building was prohibited.

Lanyon said the building’s sprinkler system had not been inspected and more than half of the ceiling tiles had been removed for decorative purposes. The removal of the tiles would cause the sprinkler system to be ineffective in the case of a fire.

Catholic has until Friday, March 23, to address the violations.

Catholic is subletting the building from Piccadilly, which is leasing the building through May 2013. Jim Hutcherson, a Louisville, KY-based real estate agent representing Piccadilly, was in Smyrna last week because he had not spoken to Catholic in several weeks.

“A lot of these things should have been done months ago,” he said. “A lot of this was him knowing the things you’re supposed to do. So I spent a lot of time last week and this week speaking with people to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

The Marietta Daily Journal recently reported that Catholic had not yet paid his rent. But Hutcherson said Catholic signed a lease in October allowing him to occupy the building rent-free in November and December. At the time the lease was signed, Catholic paid rent for January and February.

“He is due with March rent,” Hutcherson said. “I don’t know what the date is. At worst he’s late with his rent.”

Hutcherson could not confirm if Catholic had paid the rent for March because the check is sent directly to Piccadilly’s headquarters. Catholic told Smyrna-Vinings Patch that he has “no rental issues.”

Hutcherson said he supports Catholic’s mission to provide an afterschool program for Smyrna teens, adding that it will benefit the community as well.

“If you look a half-mile north and a half-mile south, you see this is somewhat of a no-man’s-land type area in there,” Hutcherson said. “There are a lot of businesses that are not open in there. It’s just because the retail has moved in the other directions. What Mel is doing is good for the whole area and good for the community.”

Some of Catholic's plan for EGAS Inc. include an Adopt-a-Mile cleanup event and a scholarship essay contest.