BE OUR GUEST: PUBLIC NEEDS TO GIVE INPUT AT HEARING ON BETTER PROPERTY MAINTENANCE

Cecelia Sonderman is a lifelong resident of Cape Girardeau. She is a former city councilwoman and previously served as administrative assistant to the city manager. She is a member of the Committee for Better Property Maintenance.

On Thursday, Jan. 14, a public hearing on a very important issue to the citizens of Cape Girardeau will be held before the city Board of Appeals. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the City Council chambers at City Hall, 401 Independence Street.

The hearing is being held for the purpose of the board gaining input from the citizens of Cape Girardeau on the BOCA National Property Maintenance Code/1990, which is proposed for adoption by the city.

Every citizen concerned with safety, health, aesthetics as this pertains to cleanliness and, yes, tourism, should attend this hearing. Each person who believes that every individual should have the basic right to live in a clean, healthy, safe lodging and neighborhood, should be at the hearing. It is imperative that the Board of Appeals gains a true picture of the number of citizens concerned with the maintenance of property in Cape Girardeau.

The BOCA National Property Maintenance Code/1990, if adopted, would cover houses, apartments and commercial properties. It would pertain to both inside and outside conditions of properties.

But adoption of the code would not mean that inspectors would immediately go out and start ordering improvements to every property owner within the city. The city says that, rather, overall enforcement of the code would be used in connection with new buildings. Other enforcement would be on a complaint basis.

The city has received many complaints on poor conditions of occupied rental apartments and houses, as well as complaints on poor conditions of vacant houses and properties, including the old St. Francis Hospital and Marquette Hotel. Under present ordinances, there is only so much city inspectors can do. Inspectors need the BOCA National Property Maintenance Code to better correct these conditions. The code would allow the city to handle some situations without such lengthy condemnation proceedings now used.

The code outlines responsibilities of property owners and also responsibilities of tenants of rental units. There would be a penalty for owners not complying with the code.

When my attention was first brought to the need for a minimum property maintenance code in Cape Girardeau, I talked with other persons also interested in this issue. We toured several rental properties. I could hardly believe that people were living in the conditions we witnessed on our tour.

There were exposed wires (and masses of wires), many in locations where an occupant might easily come in contact with the wires. There were broken and dangerous steps, and windows that would not open and close. Some had no locks. There were apartments on upper floors with only one exit, a grave danger in case of fire. There were roofs where the rain poured in and, in one case, rotted the hall floor so badly that a tenant stepping out of their apartment fell through the floor. A thin board had been placed across the center of the hole the last I knew, but no repairs made. Stucco, finish and outside boards were off some walls and, again, the rain poured in. Roaches were so thick in some apartments that one wondered what could be done other than tearing down the building. Weeds and grass were extremely high at some multiple apartment complexes.

Rent ran as high as $300 per month on the apartments we toured, which too is shocking. I did not consider any of the rents what might be called "cheap." In some cases, the rent included utilities, but in some instances, we were told the landlord did not pay the utility bills when due and the utilities were cut off. There was no heat in the coldest weather and in one of these apartments, small children were involved. I am aware of an incident where the thermostat was in the downstairs living quarters of the owners. When they went to work, they turned the thermostat so low that the elderly woman living in the upstairs apartment had to stay in bed all day to keep from freezing. The BOCA Property Maintenance Code/1990 would cover the above conditions.

The adoption of a minimum property maintenance code has been proposed to the city in past years. Rental property owners, especially, have opposed the code adoption. They said private industry can take care of its own. For the most part, this is true. The majority of our property owners including rental property owners keep their units in good condition.

But there are those landlords who do as little as possible or nothing to improve the poor conditions of their rental properties. It is apparent that they will never improve such conditions unless there are laws requiring improvements and these laws are enforced. These landlords said that if they repair the rental properties to meet the code, they must then raise the rent until some tenants who cannot afford the rent will be left homeless.

I don't think this has to be. It hasn't happened in other cities which have a minimum property maintenance code. Columbia has had such a code for about 10 years. Columbia officials reported the code has been beneficial as it allows the city to have safety controls over housing units. They said that in Columbia, landlords opposed the code in the beginning, but after the initial steps to upgrade their properties to meet the code, landlords there now feel their apartments are much easier to maintain. Columbia has a registration fee, inspection, reinspection fee and a fee for renters making a false complaint. These fees go toward paying costs of the code enforcement. A certificate of compliance, which stays with the property, is used.

Cape Girardeau is too fine of a city to tolerate conditions of some of the poorly maintained properties. We need the BOCA National Property Maintenance Code to give our city employees the needed tools to adequately do their jobs.

So all you residents who support the need for such a maintenance code, please attend this hearing to show, at least in numbers, that our citizens do care.