Confusion seems to be king at Village Court as residents claim they still have not received any straight answers as to why their sliding glass doors were bolted shut recently.

Village Court is a state facility operated by the Mattapoisett Housing Authority that provides affordable housing for seniors.

The doors were unbolted per order of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development but a June 9 meeting of the Mattapoisett Housing Authority Board instituted a new policy stating that residents could not open their sliders under possible threat of eviction.

Numerous doors also have sliders that are so dirty or ill-maintained that they cannot open properly. Numerous sliders also had screens that were never put back on or that are significantly torn.

The hallways at Village Court, as a result of the sliders remaining closed, are now unbearably hot, according to some residents.

"It reached 99 degrees [in the hallways] a couple weekends ago," said Eileen Marum, whose mother lives at Village Court. Marum said the heat forced many residents to stay in their apartments all day.

"We went to the Fire Marshall and he told them to unbolt those sliders," said Roberta Tripp, a Village Court resident. "It took 14 days for them to unbolt them."

Village Court Executive Director Louise Sousa said she could not recall how long it took to complete the unbolting.

Maintenance staff did not warn anyone that the sliders would be bolted that morning either, according to residents.

"It just occurred that morning," said Sousa, explaining that the maintenance staff did not schedule the bolting until that morning.

"Once you have egress that's designated as such you can't change it after the fact," said Andrew Bobola, Building Inspector for the Town of Mattapoisett.

Out of frustration, Marum contacted State Senator Mark Montigny’s office.

"We contacted DHCD and said we were very concerned," said Paul Lehnus, Legislative Aide to State Senator Mark Montigny. "We hope to have this issue resolved in the coming weeks."

Sousa maintained that the bolting was done for health and safety reasons.

"...Sousa blamed 'Boston' and the 'State,'" Marum wrote in her letter to Montigny. "When tenants inquired as to who in 'Boston,' she replied, 'I don't remember, I don't know. I can check in the office. It was done as an experiment.'"

"Residents were never told this was done as an experiment," said Sousa. According to Sousa, a few years ago there was a mold problem at Village Court and the policy banning residents from opening their sliders is intended to keep new mold from developing.

Residents also claimed Sousa told residents to report anyone seen opening  the sliders.

"We just want to know who opens the sliders so we can bring them to the office and remind them of how important it is to always have them closed," said Sousa.

The Board of Health has also become involved with Board of Health Agent Dale Barrows sending Sousa a letter on July 27 stating that all sliders must be repaired and the screens replaced due to a number of health code violations.

Barrows said he has not yet been contacted to discuss how Village Court will address the issues in his letter.

Sousa explained the lack of response to Barrows as being the fault of the housing authority’s slow bidding process.  She said the authority must recieve three quotes before any work can begin on the facilities.

As of right now, a number of screens remain stacked against an outside wall of the complex while numerous sliders cannot be opened.

"It's always a vicious cycle of going around and around and nothing gets done to the simplest maintenance," said Tripp.