St. Paul’s Department of Safety and Inspections is working to address several deteriorating buildings in the downtown area, its director said Wednesday during a City Council hearing.
The multi-agency Property Risk Management Task Force identifies buildings that are at risk due to structural failure, public health violations and general economic stress, St. Paul’s Director of Safety and Inspections Angie Wiese said Wednesday.
The task force was established in September and is led by Wiese’s department. Last month, tenants were forced to leave Alliance Bank Center after its owner, Madison Equities, stopped paying utility bills for the building.
Wiese said different agencies were receiving a constant stream of information about vacant buildings.
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“One of the situations we found ourselves in is that we had a bunch of information coming our way, and a bunch of people really energized to address the issues,” she said. “But we needed a way to harness all of that in a more effective way.”
The task force’s goals, she said, are to keep buildings safe, keep skyways safe and accessible, support tenant transitions, keep stakeholders informed and minimize the time a property remains in an at-risk state.
She said there’s a perception among members of the public that the city can take over the properties.
“There’s very strong constitutional language about property rights,” she said. “We are not here to infringe on them, and we are very, very cognizant of our rights and abilities versus the property rights.”
Wiese noted that the city doesn’t have administrative citations.
“We’ve gotten some questions of ‘why aren’t you penalizing owners for their behavior?’ And there is no penalty that is available to the city at this time,” she said.
Council President Rebecca Noecker said she is an advocate for establishing administrative citations. Matt Privratsky, the interim council member for Ward 4, agreed.
“I just cannot state strongly enough how frustrating it is that the city has been without this tool,” Privratsky said, referring to administrative citations. He added that he blamed a single council member who “was able to stymie that effort” years ago.
Privratsky also said that any tools the city does have “are hampered by an absurd amount of inertia and leverage that the property owner has. So our department staff are effectively fighting with two arms tied behind their back and essentially with their legs tied, and there’s nothing to be done in almost all of these situations.”
Wiese provided an update on the status of some buildings. At least three sales have gone through since October, while several purchase agreements are in process. Five buildings are in receivership.
