by Logan Gruber
operations@thenewsleaders.com
During the June 22 Sauk Rapids City Council meeting, community-development director Todd Schultz asked the council for a general feeling about the fees it would like to see leveled against those who do not follow the city’s ordinance on property maintenance. The current ordinance was put in place during the May 26 council meeting.
Currently, the fees in the ordinance allow the city to charge up to $500 per offense. Schultz said he thinks that is too ambiguous, and the council agreed.
Fees would only be applied after two letters had been sent. The first letter would arrive, and a resident would have 30 days to contact staff to clean up the property. If that resident hasn’t contacted staff within 30 days, a second letter would be sent out. The resident would have two weeks to respond to the second letter. If the resident still hasn’t responded, then he or she would receive a citation and be assessed a fine. A citation would arrive every two weeks if the city isn’t contacted by the homeowner, up to a total of three citations. After that point, the city would then take the resident to court. At the May 26 city council meeting, Sauk Rapids Police Chief Perry Beise said only twice in seven years has the city taken someone to court over an issue like this.
The council discussed placing the fees in a three-tiered schedule, fining the resident $100 for the first citation, $200 for the second and $300 for the third. The council in general said that was too low to elicit a response from people, and so it considered placing it higher, up to $1,000 for the third citation.
“$1,000 kind of smacks me as a lot,” Sauk Rapids City Attorney Adam Ripple said. “There are significant traffic violations, misdemeanors and state laws where the fine is a lot lower.”
In general, Ripple felt fining a resident $1,000 would not be defensible in the presence of a judge.
The council then settled on a middle ground, with the fees in the same three-tiered schedule but with fines set at $100 for the first citation, $300 for the second and $600 for the third.
“If we have people who are chronic violators, they should feel the pinch,” council person Ellen Thronson said.
These fees are not set in stone; a public hearing will have to be held, Schultz noted. Schultz also said if residents feel the fine levied against them is unfair in the future, they are able to appeal the fine to the council as well.
But Schultz hopes to have compliance without issuing citations.
“We want people to conform,” council member Steve Heinen said. “So if they’re working on their issues, we’ll keep working with them because we don’t want to issue a fine.”
The council also clarified the ordinance is not just about grass; it’s about problem properties, with many issues such as junk vehicles and other items in the yard.
Regular city council meetings are held at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of the month in the council chambers at the Government Center, 250 Summit Ave. N. These meetings are open to the public, and a public hearing for any topic a citizen might want to speak about before the council is held near the beginning of every meeting. The meetings are also broadcast live on the city’s cable access channel, Charter Channel 181. Agendas and meeting minutes may be viewed at the Government Center or online at ci.sauk-rapids.mn.us.
