Cancun Mexican Restaurant at 14 Silver St. in downtown Waterville was ordered closed earlier this month after an inspection found several code violations, according to a city report. The restaurant, shown here in 2021, must correct the code violations before it will be allowed to reopen. Amy Calder/Morning Sentinel file
WATERVILLE — The city has ordered a downtown restaurant to correct several code violations before it will be allowed to open again, according to an inspection report obtained Monday.
Cancun Mexican Restaurant at 14 Silver St. was ordered June 5 to cease all business activity until the violations are addressed and a follow-up inspection is performed by the city’s code enforcement office and Fire Department, which inspected the restaurant May 31.
The report lists the violations and asks Cancun to submit a plan to correct each violation within 10 days of receipt of the order.
Cancun officials, however, have not contacted the code enforcement office since it delivered the notice June 5, according to Dan Bradstreet, the city’s director of code enforcement.
The report reveals several safety violations at the restaurant: The exhaust system must be cleaned by a licensed professional and placed on a cleaning schedule to prevent buildup of flammable grease. The ceiling must be fixed because ornaments and parts of the ceiling were falling down. A fire alarm system must be installed for the entire building that can be monitored by the Fire Department.
Some of the other requirements include testing sprinkler heads to make sure they work properly, fixing several emergency lights and illuminated exit signs that were not working and chaining and securing gas cylinders in the basement.
In a letter early this month to Cancun owner Hector Fuentes, Bradstreet wrote that many of the violations listed in the report were also listed in a report the city provided Fuentes on Dec. 24, 2021.
Fuentes wrote in a brief email Monday that he and a business partner are “working together to figure out the future of Cancun.” He did not elaborate.
The Last Unicorn, which was next door to Cancun Mexican Restaurant, was destroyed by fire April 23, leaving soot on the outside concrete wall of Cancun and some smoke damage inside.
Cancun was closed in December 2021 because a state inspector found numerous health violations, including improper hygienic practices, inadequate heating and cooling of foods and inadequate steps taken to prevent food contamination, according to a state report.
Cancun was forced to close for a week in April 2021 for violating COVID-19 requirements. A state health inspector found that staff members were not wearing face coverings and the restaurant failed to quarantine a sick employee while awaiting test results.
Fuentes was sentenced to a 30-month prison term in 2014 after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court to knowingly hiring 10 or more undocumented immigrants over the course of a year at his Westbrook restaurant and making false statements to federal agents.
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