Condemnation costly: LaCrosse council hears report on unfit buildings

LaCrosse Town Council last Thursday received a report on the costs and procedures involved to take action on unfit buildings. At least five houses in town and a couple of unfit structures downtown were discussed at a previous meeting.

Mayor Randy Camp said the council talked about buildings that could possibly be condemned at its meeting in August.

“But we’ve run into some walls,” Camp said.

He reported he talked with the town’s attorney who advised a building inspector or a fire marshal would have to take action to condemn a building.

If the owner of the building decides not to contest the condemnation, costs would be about $5,000 per building. If the owner contested the decision, costs could be $10,000 or more, Camp said.

He said the city would also be required to document the history of the building listing damage, deterioration, health and safety concerns. The mayor said the city would be required to document dangers such as stairways, electric code violations and water system problems.

“What can we do to a house that’s bad?” asked Councilman Thomas Cauley.

“Nothing,” Camp said.

“There’s no resolution or ordinance we can pass,” he said.

Camp also said the city attorney recommended the city hire a county building inspector who could condemn a building.

Michael Baker, county director of environmental health, said that his department has very little authority within a city’s jurisdiction.

However, he said that a city can have an ordinance requiring homes to be hooked up to city water and sewer systems.

If a home is not hooked up to a water and sewer system, a building inspector can judge the home “uninhabitable,” prohibiting people from living there. The home is posted and deemed a public safety risk.

Baker also said his department is working with the county attorney to clarify how much authority the county actually has when it comes to health and safety issues.

“There’s a good portion of cities in the county that have the same issues,” Baker said.

He said people leave a house and the city is stuck with the cost of tearing it down. He said Pullman, with its student population, has similar problems. Students sometimes abandon uninhabital houses which have to be condemned and removed by the city.

“This isn’t the first time the county has to tell a city the county can’t help,” Baker said. “It falls to a city ordinance.”

He said, though, that his department could come up with some agreement to work with a city on this type of issue.

Colfax Building Inspector Andy Burgard said the city has condemned houses with the last episode about 10 years ago.

“I might be working on more,” he added.

Colfax city code specifies that homes must be hooked up to city water and sewer.

“It’s a long procedure and takes about three months,” he said. “We send certified letters and try to give people the opportunity. But if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. A lot of times people are too poor to fix it up.”

He said the city adopted an ordinance that the city can condemn buildings if the building is a public nuisance, dangerous or falling down.

Colfax adopted the International Residential Code along with the International Property Maintenance Code which allows the city to condemn a building.

The maintenance code infers that the city can condemn a building, and if the city must go to court it would have grounds under the code to support its action.

LaCrosse council members last week concluded about five houses in town should be condemned.

“At this point, we don’t have a solution except try and get people to feel responsible,” Camp said.