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Upon inspection of the downtown area on August 17, 2000 the staff became aware that Mr. Pocza had hired a contractor and work had begun on the porch of 129 Franklin Place without permits. The contractor had already removed the original porch posts and rails and had replaced the posts with totally different style — columns. The staff contacted Mr. Pocza on August 17, 2000 at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the violation and the need to apply for a permit. Mr. Pocza stated his objection to the designation of the properties and that he would not remove the existing posts and that he would replace the railing with what ever he could find that kind of resembled the original. The staff agreed to give Mr. Pocza until August 23, 2000 to contact you regarding this issue and to relay your comments to the HPC Staff. The staff also sent Mr. Pocza an application for the required permit with a letter dated August 18, 2000 giving him until August 30th to return the application so he could be on the September 18th agenda. Mr. Pocza was also informed over the phone that if he failed to contact the staff by August 23, 2000 that the staff would be required to send a failure to comply letter to the owner. August 23, 2000 has come and gone with no word from Mr. Pocza, which has led the staff to send this letter. Mr. Pocza is being very uncooperative which has led to unnecessary problems. The staff was more then willing to work with Mr. Pocza, however, he chose to disregard the Commission which has caused un -needed friction. If Mr. Pocza had simply worked with the staff we could have helped him pick out columns and rails that could be easily approved and that would not cost any more then those that have been installed. Because he chose to ignore the Commission Staff the project will now have to go before the Commission as a whole which pushes the project back a month and may lead to the removal of the new columns. All this could have been avoided very easily if Mr. Pocza had simply cooperated, it would not have cost anymore money nor would it have taken much time. Because of his failure to cooperate the HPC Staff feels it will be necessary in the future to correspond directly with you and as such we have enclosed is an application for a Certificate of Appropriateness. If you fill it out and return it to me by August 31, 2000 1 will still be able to squeeze it onto the September agenda. However, if you can not make this deadline you have until September 15, 2000 to return the application, which will then be placed on the October 16, 2000 agenda. If you fail to respond by the September 15, 2000 date the Commission will be forced to turn the matter over to our legal department. The Commission would like to work with you In this matter so that these issues can be resolved. Acting Director, John Oxian would very much like to discuss all of these issues with you. He will try to contact you with in the next couple of weeks. If you prefer, you may contact him at Oxian Rug Cleaners, 219-234-7202. If you have any questions please call me at 219-235-9798 or email the staff at historic@michiana.org. I sincerely hope we can work through these issues in a friendly and expedient manner. RespeptVly, &'4 1 Po'nd3aSaunders, Assistant Director Cc: John Oxian, Acting Director HPC