FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio — Residents at the Galloway Village Apartments are in need of a new place to live after the complex in Prairie Township was deemed unfit to live in by Franklin County Public Health due to serious health concerns.
FCPH teamed up with Prairie Township on Tuesday to hold a resource fair with residents to get residents started with finding new permanent housing, and offer any other assistance they might need.
“It is very concerning. These are apartments and townhomes that are in complete disrepair and are very unsafe for our residents so there are immediate health and safety concerns that we have,” said Franklin County Health Commissioner Joe Mazzola.
Franklin County has allocated $1 million to the health department to help residents relocate, and has brought on a third party company, R.H. Brown & Company, to help with the process.
“We really want to make sure those residents at Galloway Village leave Galloway Village as soon as possible and we are wanting to work with them to get them rehoused safely and as quickly as possible,” Mazzola said.
More than 90 of the 350 units at the complex are still occupied.
Michael Hill Jr. has been without water for about a week in his apartment and said the complex is no longer paying for him to stay in a hotel.
“I feel like the township is doing what they can. They are doing everything they can to work with me. They are not miracle workers but as far as the complex I feel like they haven’t tried or they are not doing anything,” Hill said.
The complex did not respond to requests for comment by 10TV.
Prairie Township has given the complex owners 20 days to respond and ask for a public hearing. If they do not take action, the township could move forward with plans for a demolition.
In the meantime, the township has had its own employees attending to the excessive garbage at the complex and plans to add the costs to the complex’s property taxes.