Message from 56572 City Administrator

A few readers have commented about city matters not regarding the police department. These comments were not published, but forwarded to Don Solga. Don replied this morning and asked that this be published:

"I would prefer individuals call or stop into City Hall regarding City policy or issues that may be of concern to them. I will not spend time answering anonymous postings. I am way too busy for that. I would rather speak directly to the concerned individual. However, with that said, and because others have had concerns about rental properties, I will say….

I am not a building official and my knowledge of building code is limited. That is why the City out sources for those services. Our rental property ordinance requires the renewal of a rental license each year and a rental property inspection every three (3) years. Among other things, the rental inspector looks for code issues that jeopardize the health and safety of the building occupants. It is possible that after a property has passed the inspection a failing condition may occur. Since the rental property received a passing mark before the failing condition occurred it would not get noticed until the next inspection cycle. The City can re-inspect, in the middle of the cycle, rental properties that have new conditions that would have failed the initial inspection. I would suggest that the building occupants first try to address the situation with the building owner. If the owner is unresponsive then the occupants should contact the City. We will need specific (factual) information to warrant us re-inspecting the property. We would like the full name of the person filing the complaint and a telephone number to reach them if we have questions. We also need the address of the rental unit in question and the specific condition to be addressed.

The person filing the complaint does not have to be the building occupant; however, I would want the same information from anyone. Again, if someone has a complaint that the property owner will not address please call City Hall instead of posting an anonymous statement so that I can get all the information I need to address the situation."

Don Solga
Administrator
City of Pelican Rapids
(218) 863-6571