Local church facing closure after roof repairman leaves job unfinished

One local pastor says an unfinished roof repair costing thousands that's unfinished nearly a year later is causing serious damage to the sanctuary.

"You want it to look good because it's God's house, this is where we come to worship at," said Reginald Poellnitz of Greater Saint James Episcopal Church.

This church built in 1899 may soon have to close its doors, thanks to Advanced Roofing Solutions of Sterling Heights.

"It's been very stressful. And at the same time, we have the other members of the church disappointed with it. We know the church needs to look good and attractive for the community," Poellnitz said.

Pastor Poellnitz says he hired a man by the name of Michael Milanovich last year for a price of $18,000. At first, the company got right to work.

He says they worked off and on sporadically up until about November, then they disappeared.

The Better Business Bureau also hasn't been able to track down Michael, saying they've received four other similar complainte.

We also went to the Sterling Heights address, but nobody was home.

With the roof half finished, the snow and rain seeped in, and now mold is growing throughout the walls.

While the church is trying to deal with the roof and the mold, the wind storm we just had has also blown out some of the stained glass. There's just no money to repair anything.

Now Pastor Poellnitz estimates it will cost at least $300,000 to get the church back up to code. If he's lucky, their insurance will cover about $50,000.

He says he contacted the insurance company and filed a claim on the damage. Now they're having somewhat of a struggle with the insurance company to get coverage.

According to the Better Business Bureau, the same man who owns the business also owns All Pro Roofing and Paving in Troy and Flat Roof Solutions also in Troy.

They also say there are several other companies called Advanced Roofing in Metro Detroit area who are in good standing, not to be mistaken with Advances Roofing in Sterling Heights.

"Some people don't have a conscious," Poellnitz said.

Poellnitz and his congregation of 65 people are waiting and waiting for their prayers to be answered.

"If you're watching right now Michael, you scammed us out of a lot of money. We put our trust in you, you promised that you would do a great job for us, and we had confidence in you. And when you asked for more money to get other things done we gave it to you, so why can't you be fair with us?" he said.