The East Texas Dream Center was deemed uninhabitable by the Conroe City Council on June 28 after a May fire exposed 176 building code violations and more than 700 fire code violations to the 1938 building. The East Texas Dream Center nonprofit intends to provide a safe space and resources to teach life skills to women who have been victims of sex crimes, abuse, homelessness or trauma. The council voted unanimously to suspend occupancy at the Dream Center until repairs can be approved and suspend water utilities to the building because of leaky plumbing to discourage unauthorized occupancy. The council is requiring the building owners to develop a comprehensive plan for renovation based on a thorough evaluation of the building’s systems. Experts and consultants selected and paid by the city will evaluate the structure’s electrical, plumbing and environmental issues. The report they come up with will serve as a renovation guideline for the owners, city officials said. “We value the work done by the Dream Center to serve families in need of assistance, but concern for those families requires the building be made safe for them to occupy,” City Attorney Marc Winberry said. “Until repairs are made, the building should remain unoccupied, and [the] city [should be] prepared to respond with appropriate legal action to prohibit illegal action.” Nancy Mikeska, director of community development for the city of Conroe, said city staff had repeatedly asked the building owners, Shawn and Shannon Nelson, to make repairs over the past five years, but that had never materialized. The city had also asked them not to occupy the second floor and documented repeated violations there. “That thing would not pass code in Afghanistan,” Council Member Guy Martin said. “We need to insist that our people take a look at this. Quite honestly, after five years of watching this nonsense, I do not trust anybody that they hire, and no one should.” Red flags the firefighters documented include padlocks on the outside of bedrooms and children’s playrooms, padlocks on the outside of exits, exposed electrical wire, exposed electrical outlets, peeling asbestos- and lead-based paint, underwater elevator shafts with exposed electrical wiring and blocked staircases, city officials said. Conroe Fire Marshal Steve Cottar said the proper door hardware would be a keyhole installed in the door with the ability to lock from the inside. “The first step to get this done is to get asbestos treatment,” Mayor Toby Powell said. “That was the way you did things back in the old days, but when it gets to this condition you need to make some changes. We’re going to have someone enter this building, make the proper decisions on what is there and how to correct the position before we go into wasting our time doing electrical, plumbing and all that.” Other items of note from the June 28 City Council meeting • The council unanimously amended the FY 17-18 budget to include Harvey effects, such as the wastewater treatment plant and the police gun range. Expenses include generators, computer equipment, wastewater facility repairs and the replacement of two pickup trucks. • The council unanimously appointed Council Member Jody Czajkoski to the Tourist Advisory Council. • The council unanimously approved the May 2018 Monthly Financial Summary Report.