Miraculously, church get certificate of occupancy

BRIDGEPORT -- Just hours after city officials conceded that the Rev. Kenneth Moales Jr. had been operating his East End cathedral without a certificate of occupancy for the past four years, all the inspections and paperwork were completed --and he was given a temporary one.

"I told you before we would be fine and we are fine," Moales said Tuesday evening.

Moales also is chairman of the city's Board of Education.

Shortly before noon Tuesday, Moales, who still did not have the CO, vowed he would keep his Cathedral of the Holy Spirit open on Union Avenue even though a state building official said it was illegal.

"Within the past 24 to 48 hours, the appropriate paperwork was provided by the property owner to our building official, inspections were conducted and a temporary CO was issued for the Prayer Tabernacle building on Union Avenue," said Elaine Ficarra, spokeswoman for Mayor Bill Finch. She would not elaborate.

In the meantime, City Building Official Peter Paajanen on Tuesday got a talking to from Deputy State Building Inspector Daniel Tierney regarding Paajanen's responsibilities in the matter and the fact that the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit has been holding services and school since 2009 without the CO.

"Mr. Tierney has spoken to Mr. Paajanen and given him some advice on how it should have been handled and we hope and expect the local official will do what is necessary to ensure public safety," said Jeffrey Beckham, the spokesman for the state building inspector.

Beckham said under state law the state building inspector can step in and take over from a city building inspector who is not doing his job.

"But we have no information that is the case here," he said.

Under state law, buildings cannot be used or occupied without a certificate of occupancy which can only be issued after it is determined by the local building official that the building is safe.

The city Fire Marshal has provided no information that the Union Avenue cathedral has been inspected.

Despite the fact that Mayor Bill Finch has acknowledged attending several functions at the cathedral and video of services there can be viewed on YouTube, Paajanen said he did not know the cathedral remained open.

"Our Building department is aware of this issue and is awaiting final documentation from the architect, designer and construction firm, and from the fire marshal and zoning office prior to issuing a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) for Prayer Tabernacle," Ficarra said Monday night.

Moales is chairman of the city's school board and served as Finch's campaign treasurer.

His church recently applied to the state Department of Health for a license to operate a preschool in the cathedral building.

The application is pending.

dtepfer@ctpost.com; 203-330-6308; http:// twitter.com/dantepfer

Source: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Miraculously-church-get-certificate-of-occupancy-4682085.php

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