02-27-08 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMORANDUM TO: Mayor Blesener & Members of the City Council FROM: Joel Hanson, City Administrator DATE: February 22, 2008 RE: Nuisance Abatement for 122 Demont, Unit # 274 The Fire Marshal and Building Official have been dealing with a serious condition in the above reference condo unit. Specifically, the owner has removed much of the sheet rock from the walls in the unit. In many cases, the sheetrock serves as the fire barrier as required by the building code. Its removal increases the ability of fire to spread to other units in the complex. Another concern is that there is an extensive amount of exposed wiring in the unit. Again, this increases the fire hazard for the complex. Still another issue is a header was removed from one of the windows. This jeopardized the structural integrity of the building (this condition has been temporarily addressed by the association). Finally, there is a significant amount of clutter that limits ingress /egress for the unit. The unit has been posted as "unsafe" and no occupancy is allowed until the necessary corrective action occurs. Electricity has also been shut -off to this unit to eliminate some if the tire hazard associated with exposed wiring. A corrective order was also posted at the site and mailed to the owner back on the 9th of January. The owner signed the return receipt on February 11th, but has not made any contact with the City. Staff has also been in contact with the townhome association. Due to the mortgage on the property, they would be at significant financial risk if they returned the unit to an appropriate condition. Therefore, staff believes the City needs to take action if this matter is to be resolved. It should also be noted that we are in a better position than the association to recover our costs given the priority assessments from a municipality take in relation to other interests should a foreclosure result. Specifically, property taxes come first, special assessment second, and then the interests of the mortgagor. In discussing this situation with the City Attorney, he feels we should pursue abatement of the nuisance. Given our previous actions and in light of our Nuisance Code, Chapter 603 (copy attached), I have asked him to verify that we have complied with the 10 -day notice to ensure that we are in a position to assess the costs. Be will report on this at Wednesday's meeting. If we need an additional notice, we will have to continue this matter until our first meeting in March. Otherwise, we can order the abatement at this meeting. I have attached the correspondence on this matter for your review. Depending on the advice of the City Attorney, we will need to adopt a resolution ordering the abatement with appropriate findings. If we are good to go at this time, I will have this ready for the additions to the agenda on Wednesday night. 1