Upkeep of one's property can sometimes be a tedious job for anybody.
And, for the city as well.
"While this summer didn't see as much action as summer of 2009, overall we have had 41 home owners proceed with improvement projects," said Michelle Spohnheimer, director of Marshalltown's Housing & Community Development.
Property maintenance code is just one of several aspects the department deals with, as the ordinance has been around since 2007.
Since its adoption, there have been 242 cases acted upon as of Aug. 1. Nearly 133 have become fully compliant and closed, with 11 cases currently sent to court. There are 98 open cases that include 61 owner-occupied, 17 rentals, six vacancies, two commercial properties and 12 under contract sale.
Once a property complaint is received, staff makes a determination of the problem's severity, then sends a letter detailing the ordinance with a time line request for repairs, which is generally two weeks.
If there is no response, a violation letter is given to the property owner, allowing up to six months toward the improvements depending on weather, severity of the problem or financial and physical restraints.
If repairs are completed on time, the violation is dropped and the case is closed. But if they aren't taken care of within the time frame, staff contacts the city attorney and a municipal infraction is likely issued.
"The Housing Department works on a complaint-basis only," Spohnheimer said.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are 11,167 units in town, resulting in a citation rate of 2 percent for all area structures.
To assist low-income families with some of these issues, Marshalltown began the Property Maintenance Assistance Program last year, which through donations raised more than $40,000 to help qualified property owners and 13 homes have, to date, been completed.
However, while property maintenance somewhat coincides with that of nuisance issues, in terms of a problem not being addressed by the property owner, they are altogether different.
"Nuisance is something we can go in as a city or contractor and fix, such as mowing a lawn or getting a dump truck and picking up the trash," said City Planner Stephen Troskey. "What we cannot do is put shingles on a roof or paint someone's home."
The city becoming its own home-improvement company is something Troskey said should be avoided if possible.
"Nuisance issues can be dealt with and if the bills aren't paid, they go to taxes," he said. "But if someone doesn't fix their roof, we can't do it for them and bill them with taxes."
Typically, the department doesn't keep names on file of those who call in and complain.
"We also do not give out that information," Troskey said.
So far, the city has dealt with 1,293 nuisance cases this year. On average, staff receives approximately 60 calls per week, with around 33 being new complaints.
For more information on property maintenance or nuisance code, contact the Housing & Community Development Office at 641-754-5756.
To contact the Nuisance Abatement/Code Enforcement Office, call 641-754-5759.
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Contact Tammy R. Lawson at 641-753-6611 or tlawson@timesrepublican.com
