FORT MADISON – A couple of Fort Madison City Councilmen have expressed staunch opposition to the city’s current rental and vacated property codes.
At Tuesday’s regular meeting, a discussion item on the agenda raised the ires of both councilman Matt Emmett and Rick Thiele, who own properties within the city. The two expressed some rather deep concerns about the city’s policy of inspecting and registering the properties within the city.
Residents have been vocal about the registry being an overreach by the city and that prompted the city to engage a University of Northern Iowa student-led committee to evaluate the execution and implementation of the code.
City Manager Laura Liegois said UNI grad students evaluated the code along with herself, several city staff including Building Director Doug Krogmeier, Hannum, Yager, Thiele, Mayor Matt Mohrfeld, and Councilwoman Angela Roller.
Liegois said the registry program was enacted to make sure the city had safe housing and would engage property owners in progress.
“I think there has been some success and you’ll hear that from staff that has been here longer than I have.”
Roller said the focal point of the review committee was to make sure properties were safe and the rules were applied fairly and consistently and she said there was good communication among staff, council, and the university.
“It was also about the communication in the ease the landlords and the renters on what they need to do to follow our policies,” she said.
Yager agreed there was good discussions in the review committee, however, Thiele did not agree. Thiele, who owns multiple rentals and properties within the city, said his opinions were not taken into consideration by the committee and, as a landlord in the city, felt ignored by the committee. He asked to be removed from the panel, but no action was taken on his request.
Emmett called the city’s code way “out of balance” on the rights of citizens against unlawful search and seizure. He read from a prepared statement and invoked the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. He was quick to point out after the meeting that he was referencing the constitution as a citizen and not an attorney.
The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, requiring law enforcement to obtain a warrant based on probable cause before searching or seizing a person or property.
The council had a respectful conversation about the code considering the level of opposition present, a dynamic that was recognized several times during the discussion.
“This is the first step. Getting differing opinions out here and making sure we hear from everyone,” Emmett said.
Fort Madison Mayor Matt Mohrfeld was at the front of the debate in favor of the registries. Mohrfeld has been ever present in discussions around the registry that requires residents who have rentals or vacant properties to register them with the city. If the properties are properly insured, then the owners can be exempt from imposed fees that were set up to protect the city in case of abandonment, but the properties are still subject to the city registry.
Fort Madison City Code 3.9.5, at this link: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/ftmadisonia/latest/fortmadison_ia/0-0-0-1444 outlines the code and its definitions. The codes were instituted in 2022 after a string of community meetings and have been the subject of several community gatherings and objections at council meetings. The code regarding vacant buildings requires all buildings to be registered including associated fees within 12 months of becoming vacant. That registration would prompt a city inspection and then annual inspections while still registered as vacant. Any buildings deemed vacant by the city and unregistered are subject to additional fines. The city’s rental safety inspections have been in place since 2012.
Any building in violation of standards outlined in the code has 30 days to correct upon notice from the city. The remedy for the city is specifically outlined in the code as: “In the event the Building Official has reason to believe that a code violation may exist within a building, he or she is authorized and directed to inspect the remainder of the building and premises. The owner of every building may, upon request of the Building Official, give the Building Official complete access to the building and premises at reasonable times for the purpose of inspection. In the event access to the premises is refused, the Building Official with the assistance of the City Attorney may obtain an administrative search warrant from a court of competent jurisdiction in order to gain access to the premises.”
Emmett said that’s setting a dangerous precedent when weighed against the rights of the citizenry.
“Don’t we have other mechanisms that can trigger that? Aren’t there ways we can do that without automatically saying the government gets to enter my home without my permission because I didn’t sleep there for 30 days?” Emmett said.
“I would say if we’re (impuning) people’s privacy and rights, maybe the onus should be on us.”
Mohrfeld pushed back asking what that line was when it comes to the rights of neighbors to retain property values and the safety and security of their neighborhoods.
Emmett said there should be a reasonable time frame in place to get properties fixed and that has to be more than just 30 days.
“Just me not living there doesn’t mean that I should have to go through a different set of procedures than everybody else,” he said.
Mohrfeld agreed there should be balance in the code, but the current code has reduced the number of dilapidated, or nuisance, properties by close to 25% since the registrations were enacted.
“The fact is, in a town that is a certain age, we have to safeguard against the deterioration of our properties,” he said.
“But this is so far out of balance,” Emmett said.
Councilman Dustin Yager said he reached out to several landlords and said they all understood why the city has the registries.
“They completely understood the spirit behind it, but they did overwhelmingly all feel like it did not apply to them. Because they are good landlords,” he said.
“I asked them how we keep a system like that and pick and choose how we apply it fairly. No one could come up with a solution. But they all said they agreed that it was making residences better and getting rid of blighted properties.”
Thiele said there is a different type of tenant than there was a dozen years ago.
“The tenants today ask for a little more and they are not going to rent from you for very long if things aren't taken care of. It is a different caliber tenant,” he said.
Hannum said the city was working diligently to improve communications with property owners and that started in 2012 with city rental safety inspections.
“These programs aren’t just about code compliance,” he said. “They are about safety, health of the community, neighborhood pride, and protecting the people of Fort Madison. In addition to that is fairness. Part of the goal is to raise the level of landlords we have and raise the level of housing we have.”
Hannum said the rental program should be called “Safe Homes”. The city has had a rental inspection program in place since 2012 for safety inspections. He said from 2000 to 2012 the city experienced a 42% drop in structure fires. He also said the vacant property program should be called “Strong Neighborhoods”. Since the launch in 2022, the city recorded the lowest incident of fire on record with 26 for the entire year. The following year was 57 and this year they are at 28 fire incidents.
He said efforts now are focused on better communication, more consistency, and more support of residents’ concerns.
“These programs do work. As the fire chief, I’m accountable for the program’s success. The goal is simple: protect lives, reduce risks, and keep FM’s homes and neighborhoods safe,” he said. According to his data, there were 409 vacant structures in 2022 and, when the city began this year, was under 300.
“The program is moving houses. Whether they are being torn down, they are rehabbing them and selling them… whatever the case may be, the program is working. It is moving the houses.”
The item was on the agenda for discussion only and no action was taken.
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