City orders demolition of dangerous property | News, Sports, Jobs

Jill Schramm/MDN
A residence at 511 7th ST. NE, damaged in house fires in 2022 and again last April, has been ordered for demolition. Due to owner inaction, the council on Monday authorized the city to demolish the house at the owner’s cost.

The City of Minot is moving ahead with demolition of a damaged residence that has seen two major fires in the past two years.

The Minot City Council voted Monday to seek bids to demolish the structure at 511 7th St. NE at the owner’s expense.

Meanwhile, it also is looking at whether to tighten its policies to address those who don’t pay their debts to the city.

The condition of the fire-damaged property in northeast Minot has been a concern of the city since the first fire in May 2022. The city issued its first order for remedial work to the owner in July 2022.

Council member Mark Jantzer said he has been hearing complaints from neighbors for probably the past year about the lack of repairs.

On April 24, a second fire further damaged the structure. According to the city, lack of action by the owner to remediate the conditions that have been present since 2022 have created a dangerous property. City ordinance allows the city to take action regarding dangerous buildings when the owner fails to respond to repeated notices.

Demolition is estimated to cost $25,000-$30,000.

Council member Stephan Podrygula also called for tighter policies and more council involvement in ensuring bills to the city don’t go unpaid.

The Finance Department submitted a new policy for handling revenue collections that establishes “minimum standards for management of accounts receivable” and provides “guidance for timely and efficient revenue collection efforts.”

Podrygula proposed amendments to the policy to require contact to be made with the debtor on any account overdue more than 30 days and to require all departments holding accounts overdue more than 30 days report those accounts to the Finance Department. He proposed implementing late payment fees, notifying the council of any overdue accounts of $500 or more and gaining council approval before writing off any debts greater than $500.

“I don’t see the policy as being nearly strict enough,” Podrygula said. “We are letting too much time elapse before we take action on people who owe us money.”

Finance Director David Lakefield said the city does impose late fees. He also explained the new policy was written to address internal processes.

“One of the things we are looking at is formalizing the process of how we set up an account, the process we go through before we extend credit to anyone, and then also the process we do to follow up if they don’t pay the bill, and who is responsible for each step of the way,” Lakefield said.

The council tabled the new policy to get more information before deciding on amendments.