SUMMONS ISSUED TO FIX BUILDING

Vera Windisch said she was surprised to get a summons for failing to fix the apartment building she owns at 14 N. Fountain St. After all, she had her employees fix the gutters on one side of the house, put a new roof over the front porch and start to cover the exposed black-board insulation with siding.

On July 17, a neighbor of the two-story apartment building complained to the city that the outside walls, front porch and roof had not been maintained to city standards.

The house had next to no siding, the drains on the roof had no downspouts, rotted wood supported the gutters on the south side of the house and spaces were visible between the window frames and the black board covering the outside walls.

Wednesday, workers were installing siding.

City director of inspections Rick Murray can see the building from his office at city hall. He inspected the property from the outside on July 25 and three days later sent Windisch a notice to correct the violations within 30 days.

Windisch did not reply. She said the letter said nothing about replying.

Windisch said her husband used to kept the rental properties maintained but has been ill. Murray said he normally works with landlords to give them more time before issuing summonses, but he didn't hear from them.

For example, the city issued a summons to a landlord of a house with a leaky roof last week because of a complaint filed in March. In that case, the landlords said they would fix it and didn't.

Murray said that if the owner is making a good-faith effort to fix her property, it is likely the judge will be lenient with her when she appears in municipal court. Under the city code, violators can be fined from $25 to $500 or sentenced to 90 days in jail.