After health code violations, BBA Deli Market owner pledges to clean up South Deerfield shop
Published: 10-10-2024 11:05 AM |
SOUTH DEERFIELD — The BBA Deli Market’s owner pledged Monday to address the numerous health code violations that led to its closure in late September.
In a brief hearing held by the Deerfield Board of Health on Monday, Alex Gjekaj, the Polish deli’s owner, said he and his business partner will undertake anything they need to do to reopen the establishment. The deli’s food service permit was revoked by the town as a result of a Sept. 27 health inspection.
“We will do whatever is necessary to get this place up to snuff,” Gjekaj said.
The BBA Deli Market, a longtime fixture at 39A Thayer St., was closed on Sept. 27 after Health Agent Valerie Bird conducted a health inspection and discovered what she described on Oct. 2 as “horrendous sanitation conditions.”
Speaking to the Board of Health on Monday, Bird said she received several complaints over the summer about out-of-date products, which resulted in a brief July closure. After getting another complaint in late September, Bird inspected the deli again and found 18 health code violations.
Violations found on Sept. 27 included chicken left in the temperature “danger zone,” dirty coolers, open containers in the cooler, a visibly moldy pepper, cracked glass on the deli case, a dirty microwave and an out-of-date deli meat log book. When Bird checked in on the deli again on Oct. 2, the Board of Health notices had also been taken down.
“A lot of these were repeat violations,” Bird said. “My recommendation is that he hires an outside person to help him run the facility.”
Gjekaj said his business partner had to step away from the business over the last year to deal with personal and mental health matters, which left him to manage the deli by himself. At Monday’s hearing, he said his partner would be returning to work, which will help bring the BBA Deli Market back into compliance.
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“We will get in compliance and we will not fall into the same situation again,” he said.
Following the recommendation of interim Town Administrator Christopher Dunne, the Board of Health, which also serves as the Selectboard, decided to take Gjekaj’s testimony under advisement and discuss it with Bird, town administrative staff and town counsel. Those meetings will generate recommendations for next steps at a future date.
Selectboard/Board of Health Chair Tim Hilchey said he is unsure of the timeline of events, but they are “mindful” Gjekaj wants to reopen the business and they will try to work “expeditiously.”
“We’re going to talk with our legal counsel and come up with a plan to respond to your request to move forward and reopen the business,” Hilchey said. “As I said at the previous meeting, for years I was a customer and I always had good experiences. So let’s hope that we can resolve the situation and come to a happy conclusion for everyone.”
The Selectboard’s next regularly scheduled meeting is set for Oct. 16.
Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.