The controversial motel on Route 60 in Fredonia is now empty, according to Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson.

Ferguson told the village Board of Trustees Monday that the closure of the former Econo Lodge was complete, “with all residents safely being transferred to new locations.

“Once again I emphasize that my reasons for that were… many code enforcement and zoning violations, and just deplorable conditions that not only women and children, but men, were living in. It was a dangerous situation (with) over 500 police calls, and over 100 emergency calls to the building.” The mayor did not offer a time frame for when those calls were made.

Ferguson continued, “We asked that the women and children in the building would be taken somewhere safe, and we were assured by the county that that has been done — as well as the men who needed shelter and needed the services that were supposed to be provided but were not being provided at that location, So, we finished that project.”

In the eyes of motel owners Dunkirk Hospitality LLC, the issue is far from finished. The company filed an Article 78 lawsuit Friday asking the state Supreme Court to annul and vacate Fredonia’s direction to vacate the property.

Dunkirk Hospitality also wants the court to require an expedited post-deprivation administrative hearing before a neutral officer on a court-required schedule. It also seeks compensatory damages for the balance of debt service owed on the property, and the loss of income from the forced removal of the hotel’s occupants.

The Board of Trustees temporarily botched an effort to hire legal counsel for the case Monday.

Trustees were set to consider a resolution hiring Buffalo’s Lippes Matthias law firm to handle the case. The board resolved in April to add the firm as additional legal representation for the village, but specified that it wanted to vote on each of the attorneys’ proposed jobs.

A resolution for the firm to handle the motel case was thus required, and duly provided — however, no one bothered to fill in the blank space where it specified how much the lawyers would get paid.

Because of that, trustees tabled the resolution, presumably so Village Hall can specify how much Lippes Matthias will get paid.