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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-080 CCRMember Ed Nelson introduced the following resolution and moved its adoption: RESOLUTION NO. 2002-80 RESOLUTION ORDERING THE CORRECTION OF HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS SAFETY AND HEALTH HAZARDS AND OTHER ORDINANCE AND STATUTORY VIOLATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THOSE APARTMENT BUILDINGS LOCATED AT 2802, 2806, 2810, 2814, 2818, 2822, 2826, 2830, 2834, 2838, 2900, 2904, 2908, 2912, 2916, 2920, 2924, 2928, 2932, 2936 AND 2940 NORTHWAY DRIVE, BROOKLYN CENTER, MINNESOTA 55430 LEGALLY DESCRIBED AS TRACT B, REGISTERED LAND SURVEY NO. 1186 HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA WHEREAS, Minnesota Statutes:) 463.15 et seq defines a hazardous building or hazardous property as any building or property which because of inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, physical damage, unsanitary condition or abandonment constitutes a fire hazard or hazard to the public safety or health; and WHEREAS, Brooklyn Center City Ordinances Chapter 12 provides certain minimum standards and requirements for the habitability of dwellings to prevent conditions and correct conditions that adversely affect or are likely to adversely affect the life, safety, general welfare and health of persons occupying buildings; and WHEREAS, Sections 12-1101 and 12-1102 of the ordinances of the City of Brooklyn Center provide that any building or portion thereof which is damaged, dilapidated or unsafe may be declared unfit for human habitation and upon such declaration, the owner thereof shall make the property safe and secure so that it is not hazardous to the health, welfare and/or safety of the public and building users and does not constitute a public hazard; and WHEREAS, Brooklyn Center City Ordinances, Chapter 3 adopts the Minnesota State Building Code and the Uniform Building Code and further provides, inter alia, that any building structurally unsafe and/or constituting a fire hazard and/or which is otherwise dangerous to human life and/or which constitutes a hazard to safety, health and/or public welfare by reason of inadequate maintenance, and/or dilapidation is declared to be a public nuisance and such conditions must be abated by repair or rehabilitation; and WHEREAS, Brooklyn Center City Ordinances, Chapter 5 adopts the Uniform Fire Code providing, inter alia, that any conditions constituting a violation of Chapter 5 or any law which violation creates a fire hazard shall be remedied; and RESOLUTION NO. 2002-80 W UREAS, the Brooklyn Center Building Official and Building Inspectors conducted a thorough and comprehensive inspection of all of the aforementioned buildings and the 252 apartments they contain as well as common areas and garages on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of January and 14th and 15th of February, 2002 and subsequently re-inspected the premises with John Meyer, a registered structural engineer, Charles Brenner, a registered principal materials civil engineer, Tracy Melin, a microbiologist and Steve Mayer, a roofing expert, whose reports are attached hereto and incorporated herein and found that the roofs and exteriors of all of the buildings were suffering from significant damage, dilapidation and lack of maintenance rendering all buildings hazardous within the meaning of Minnesota Statute 463.15 as follows: The roofs of all buildings showed definite evidence of long term water intrusion resulting in the roof structure, substrate, underlayment, base plies, roof covering and insulation becoming saturated with water, with deterioration of the membrane and structural integrity of the roofs, blistering of roof tar and membrane and soft roof decks as evidence of internal water damage. Open holes one half inch to one inch exist in many areas of roof flashing, clearly allowing water intrusion resulting, in the conclusion of the building official, of the necessity of replacing all roof coverings and underlying structures as determined necessary by the Building Official. Deterioration of metal roof parapet flashings allowing water to migrate down behind the exterior brick causing significant bulging and deterioration of the exterior stucco finish, interior water staining of wall board and ceilings of individual apartments, evidence of mold throughout the buildings leading to the conclusion of the building official that the long term and unchecked intrusion of water has caused mold to form within each building requiring a formal and separate inspection of the mold and abatement of the mold hazard. The presence of moisture is further indicated by thermal scans of the exterior of several buildings. RESOLUTION NO. 2002-80 All balcony structures attached to the buildings are unsafe as the posts upholding them are not properly supported by placement upon concrete footings nor secured thereto, there is no evidence that the balconies are fastened externally to the building, horizontal steel railings, serving a secondary support, are poorly fastened to the posts and all posts display significant cracks leading the building official to conclude that the safety and integrity of the balconies is questionable and must be properly repaired; and Glass located within 24 inches of the vertical edges of all doors and common areas which is required to be safety glass has been replaced with regular insulated glass, not safety glass; and WHEREAS, the city inspectors, inspected each of the 252 units in the apartment complex and common areas and generally found that the conditions therein constituted significant hazards to the lives, safety, health and welfare of the tenants and premises users by reason of the following: All smoke gaskets attached to apartment doors have been painted reducing or destroying their effectiveness. Many interior and bedroom windows are not in operating condition and would make egress from the apartments in an emergency very difficult. Fire doors throughout the buildings were not in operating condition. Many smoke detectors, required to be in apartment units and common areas, were missing or not functioning. Mold is present in many apartments and common areas, indicating the presence of prolonged interior moisture. Mold is known to cause significant health problems and this mold condition is likely to become more serious and widespread with the onset of warm and humid weather. The mold is also capable of causing structural damage. RESOLUTION NO. 2002-80 Environmental experts, including a microbiologist, after an inspection of the premises, found certain types of mold in apartment units and common areas, which mold species require the presence of high water activity conditions. Medical and environmental literature identifies mold as a potentially serious health hazard requiring abatement. Moisture penetration is evident in many apartments, as evidenced by rust-colored stains in the ceilings and walls and especially around air-conditioning units. Ownership and management have attempted to conceal these problems merely by using stain killers, and paint and overlaying sealant, allowing these moisture laden walls then to become a further breeding place for mold and mildew. A high number of toilets are not securely fixed to the floor, allowing raw sewage to enter the floor assembly at the time of each flush, constituting a health hazard to tenants and possible serious damage to the flooring. The structural integrity of the apartment floors, subfloors underlayment and floor joists is questionable due to the long term presence of water from leaking toilets, sinks and bath tubs; and WHEREAS, The Minnesota Housing Finance Agency inspected the premises in July 2001 and found that: "This property [Summerchase] is suffering from a lack of basic maintenance and upkeep to the extent that a sig- nificant number of buildings and units fail habitability standards. Several tenants reported to inspectors that maintenance requests are either ignored or not repaired properly or are not handled in a timely basis. Several tenants reported that at initial occupancy, representations were made that carpets would be cleaned and/or items repaired but were never completed. In addition, it appears that there are unacceptable tenant leasing practices that do not ade- quately screen undesirable tenants for initial occupancy or which allow households who are knowingly causing damage to remain in their units. Management does not RESOLUTION NO. 2002-80 appear to be taking appropriate action for lease violations. It is our understanding that a significant number of police calls occur at this property on a weekly basis" and WHEREAS, this report was sent by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency to Armand Brachman and Brooklyn Center Leased Housing Associates, L.L.P. with a Notice of Noncompliance, by certified mail on 30 August 2001, clearly notifying them of the lack of habitability of the buildings and apartments and requiring them to correct each deficiency within 90 days, and WHEREAS, the city inspection in January and February 2002 and subsequent thereto reveals continuing, widespread and profound housing maintenance and building code violations, directly threatening the health, welfare and safety of tenants and premises users. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City of Brooklyn Center that: 1. The City Council finds that the above-described property, buildings and apartments are hazardous due to inadequate maintenance, dilapidation, physical damage and the presence of mold constituting hazards to the public and tenant safety, welfare and health. 2. The City Council pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 463.16 herewith orders the correction of all hazardous conditions upon and at said property, as follows: a. Within twenty business days from the date of this order, Brooklyn Center Leased Housing Associates, L.L.P. shall cause a thorough inspection of the external and internal roofs, external and internal walls, floors and exteriors and interiors of each building, building entrance, balcony and apartment, by a registered structural engineer, in the presence of the city building official and city-retained experts, to fully investigate and report upon the structural integrity and condition of said buildings and to thereafter, submit to the city for approval, within ten business days thereafter, plans for repair and/or replacement of all deficient, dilapidated, damaged and hazardous conditions, restoring said buildings to conformity with all applicable housing maintenance and building and fire safety codes. Such inspection shall, at a minimum, require complete thermal scanning of all building roofs and exterior walls, common areas and selected apartments and such intrusive testing as recommended by Charles R. Brenner, Principal Materials Engineer, and John Meyer, Registered Structural Engineer, according to their reports attached hereto and incorporated herein. The apartments selected for thermal scanning and intrusive testing shall be units that are selected by the City of Brooklyn Center because they have been identified as locations RESOLUTION NO. 2002-80 where water damage has, or may have, occurred or where mold was, or may have been, present, by previous inspections, resident complaints or recommendations of the city's professional consultants. Upon completion of such scanning, testing and inspection, the City Manager may require Brooklyn Center Leased Housing Associates L.L.P to undertake such further and additional investigation, testing and inspection as is deemed advisable by expert consultants to fully assess the causes, nature and extent of water damage, mold infestation, structural problems or the like and to determine and design appropriate remediation thereof. b. Within twenty business days from the date of this order, Brooklyn Center Leased Housing Associates, L.L.P. shall cause a thorough inspection of the external and internal roofs, external and internal walls, exteriors and interiors of each building and apartment, including floors and subfloors, by a microbiologist or other expert with expertise as to mold and mold conditions, in the presence of the city building official and city-retained experts, to identify, all hazards to human safety, health and welfare and to, thereafter, submit to the city for approval, within ten business days thereafter, plans for elimination of all present hazards to human health, safety and welfare and further for the prevention of the same. Upon completion of such scanning, testing and inspection, the City Manager may require Brooklyn Center Leased Housing Associates L.L.P. to undertake such further and additional investigation, testing and inspection as is deemed advisable by expert consultants to fully assess the causes, nature and extent of water damage, mold infestation, structural problems or the like and to determine and design appropriate remediation thereof. c. Within seven business days from the date of this order, without altering, repair and/or replace, as necessary all apartment and building windows such that they open, close and operate freely and properly and to maintain said windows in good, operating condition. d. Within seven business days from the date of this order, without altering, repair and/or replace smoke detectors and maintain all required smoke detectors in good and operating condition. e. Within seven business days from the date of this order, install city-approved smoke gaskets to each apartment door and replace or repair all fire doors such that they are and remain in good operating condition thereafter. f. Within seven business days from the date of this order, replace all non-safety glass with safety glazed glass in all buildings where glass is located within 24 inches of the vertical edges of doors. RESOLUTION NO. 2002-80 g. Within seven business days from the date of this order, replace deteriorated subfloor and decontaminate as necessary, properly secure all toilets to prevent discharge of any contents anywhere except into enclosed, functioning plumbing. 3. Said inspections shall be conducted with due regard for the rights of the tenants and occupants with adequate, prior notice given by Brooklyn Center Leased Housing Associates, L.L.P. pursuant to law; and 4. Failing complete obedience to and compliance with this order, or filing a timely answer thereto, then the immediate and summary enforcement of the order in the Hennepin County District Court pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Chapter 463. The City Manager is hereby authorized to cause and carry out the abatement described herein and to perform all other tasks and functions reasonably incident thereto and to keep an accurate record of the cost of all actions and proceedings herein, including administrative time, attorneys' fees, costs and disbursements and all other costs of the enforcement of this Order and to send a statement of such costs to the landowners and other parties in interest who are directed herewith to pay the same. Date: June 10, 2002 ATTEST:NI, IV.tJI,( City Clerk Q Mayor The motion for the adoption of the foregoing resolution was duly seconded by member Bob Peppe and upon vote being taken thereon, the following voted in favor thereof: Myrna Kragness, Kay Lasman, Ed Nelson, Bob Peppe, and Tim Ricker; and the following voted against the same: none; whereupon said resolution was duly passed and adopted.