Brenda Wade Schmidt
Enterprise
A group of Flandreau residents are working to review city rules governing unsightly and unsafe properties.
The task force, put together to look at current property appearance codes appointed by the city council, has met five times and is about half way through the process of looking at property ordinances that deal with structural maintenance, yard maintenance and inoperable vehicles.
“They’ve noted the fact that our code violations do not carry with them a financial incentive to comply, short of the possibility of a court fine,” said Jeff Pederson, city administrator. Another way of addressing code violations would be to issue a fine after a property owner is first given 30 days to comply, he said.
To grow, Flandreau will need to attract people from other areas instead of relying on rural people to move to town, he said. “The physical image that this community presents is an important component of the growth and vitality of Flandreau. I’m convinced of that,” Pederson said.
Members of the task force are council members Bob Pesall, Karen Tufty and Jason Unger, and citizens Karla Bjerke, Mark Ekern, Jen Headrick, Chris Neises and Amy Olinger. Mayor Mark Bonrud also is on the task force, and Pederson serves as a resource person. The group is still working on the process and, at this time doesn’t have specific recommendations for the council, but is not done yet looking at each area of review.
Community member Karla Bjerke got involved with the task force because she thought there were ordinances not being enforced and wondered why. She has found that there is much more to the process than just telling people they can’t do something, she said.
She now has a better understanding of what the city can and can’t do.
While the ordinances are pretty specific, some need changing or amending or may need to be eliminated because they are covered elsewhere in city code, she said.
“The process of reviewing the city ordinances is interesting,” she said. “Everybody has a different opinion of what is good and bad. The ordinances are important, otherwise, we would have a disaster.
“Our goal isn’t to point a finger at anybody. …(It’s) just to see what needs to be done for the betterment of Flandreau and the ease of enforcement of the ordinances,” Bjerke said.
Structural
maintenance
The task force has been discussing what components of the code mean and the safety factor of exterior maintenance. Violations can be anything from peeling paint, which is the start of deterioration, to cracks in block buildings like the Zandt building has experienced.
So far in a review of the codes, nothing seems out of line in Flandreau’s rules, Pederson said. The codes cover commercial and residential properties the same.
The group has looked at other community’s codes and has learned about the International Property Maintenance code, a set of rules followed by other places. Some of those codes would make it easier for local residents to understand the rules and likely will be recommended for adoption, he said.
Yard Maintenance
The group will talk about these codes in August.
The codes address things such as debris, rubbish, piles of metal, old tires, appliances left outside and other junk that may be in yards.
Junk leads to unsightly vegetation which can become a habitat for vermin, Pederson said.
This area of code gets into the potential devaluation of adjoining properties, he said. “There’s your classic property rights issue.” A property owner may think they should be able to do what they want on their own ground but that can devalue a home next door.
“Those are the values that are woven into these codes,” he said.
Inoperable cars
The community did a good job of getting many properties cleaned up for this summer’s Sesquicentennial, Pederson said. But there still are old, inoperable vehicles around town.
“I believe that Flandreau has an issue with inoperable vehicles in yards. I think the task force is recognizing that,” he said.
More awareness and compliance with existing codes is a goal, he said. “There are probably a lot of people that have violations that don’t even realize it.”
Flandreau doesn’t have a code enforcement position on the city staff, but it may be time to consider a part-time person or hiring someone on contract to periodically come to town, Pederson said. “We’re trying to determine what the city wants here.”
