Legislative Hearings

15 West Kellogg Blvd. City of Saint Paul Saint Paul, MN 55102 Meeting Minutes - Action Only Legislative Hearings Marcia Moermond, Legislative Hearing Officer Mai Vang, Hearing Coordinator Jean Birkholz, Hearing Secretary legislativehearings@ci.stpaul.mn.us 651-266-8585 Tuesday, April 3, 2018 9:00 AM Room 330 City Hall & Court House 9:00 a.m. Hearings Special Tax Assessments (VB, B C) 1 RLH TA 18-146 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 249 BATES AVENUE. (File No. VB1807, Assessment No. 188808) Sponsors: Prince Approve; no show. Referred to the City Council due back on 4/18/2018 2 RLH TA 18-131 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 1786 HAWTHORNE AVENUE EAST. (File No. VB1807, Assessment No. 188808) Sponsors: Bostrom To be referred back to Legislative Hearing on May 1, 2018 (Appellant arrived 2 hours late.). Referred to the City Council due back on 4/18/2018 3 RLH TA 18-161 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 95 LITCHFIELD STREET. (File No. J1807B, Assessment No. 188108) Sponsors: Thao Approve; no show. Referred to the City Council due back on 5/16/2018 4 RLH TA 18-134 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 995 MILTON STREET NORTH. (File No. VB1808, Assessment No. 188810) Sponsors: Brendmoen Ron Staehli, appeared o/b/o Patricia Fuchs, owner. Supervisor Joe Yannarelly: Cost: $2127 City of Saint Paul Page 1 Legislative Hearings Meeting Minutes - Action Only April 3, 2018 Service Charge: $157 Total Assessment: $2284 Gold Card Returned by: Ron Staehli appeared o/b/o Patricia Fuchs, owner, on 02/20/18 Type of Order/Fee: VB Fee Nuisance: unpaid VB fee Date of Orders: Registration letter12/19/17 and Warning Ltr 01/18/18 Compliance Date: NA Re-Check Date: NA Date Work Done: NA Work Order #: 17-222647, Inv # 1346810 Returned Mail?: No Comments: CAT 1 opened 12/18/17 by Code Enforcement area inspector. House vacant and secure by normal means, water off, exterior in fair shape, S/A sent on snow. Legislative hearing comments: Mr. Staehli appeared o/b/o of owner on 2/20 (see minutes attached herein). History of Orders on Property: snow orders Mr. Staehli: I'm taking care of this for my son's best friend's mother; we appealed the original assessment but apparently, that was late; so, we came & had a meeting & Ms. Moermond said that we would handle this at the assessment portion of it - that she would be waiving the VB fee for 90 days -now, the water is back on & the owner is living there again; it's re-occupied Mr. Yannarelly: as long as it's re-occupied & the water's on again; we're good -noted that there's been about 6 snow complaints on the property since Dec 2017 Mr. Staehli: I didn't get involved until sometime in Jan 2018 Mr. Yannarelly: I will email the inspector that it's re-occupied & he will close the VB file Ms. Vang: Delete the assessment; water is back on and owner has moved back in. VB closed. Referred to the City Council due back on 5/16/2018 5 RLH TA 18-160 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 1816 MINNEHAHA AVENUE EAST. (File No. VB1808, Assessment No. 188810) Sponsors: Prince Approve the assessment. Referred to the City Council due back on 5/16/2018 6 RLH TA 18-120 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 602 ORANGE AVENUE EAST, (File No. J1805C, Assessment No. 182004) Sponsors: Bostrom Adam Cutters, owner, appeared. Supervisor Joe Yannarelly: Cost: $1800 City of Saint Paul Page 2 Legislative Hearings Meeting Minutes - Action Only April 3, 2018 Service Charge: $162 Total Assessment: $1962 Gold Card returned by: Adam Petterson TYpe of Order/Fee: Demolition of a fire damaged garage Nuisance: Date of Orders: August 2, 2017 Compliance Date: August 9, 2017 Re-Check Date: Date Work Done: Notice to Proceed issued on September 21, 2017 Work Order #: Returned Mail?: Comments: History of Orders on Property: Mr. Cutters: do you have pictures? Nhia Vang: yes; I have pictures Mr. Cutters: -I didn't own the property when this was done; I don't feel that I should have to pay for an assessment that I wasn't even aware of at the time of purchase around Oct 20, 2017; this was not disclosed at the time of purchase; there was no garage when I bought the property Mr. Yannarelly: contact your title company Mr. Cutters: I've already started a claim with them Mr. Yannarelly: you buy the property; you buy the assessment, as well but it should have been disclosed & you are going after the right people -provided copies of the Summary Abatement Order, etc. that was sent to the previous owner Ms. Vang: Approve the assessment. Referred to the City Council due back on 4/18/2018 7 RLH TA 18-83 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 1978 PALACE AVENUE. (File No. VB1807, Assessment No. 188808) Sponsors: Tolbert John Stochl, Barbara Stochl's son, appeared. Supervisor Joe Yannarelly: Cost: $2127 Service Charge: $157 Total Assessment: $2284 Gold Card Returned by: John Stochl called in Type of Order/Fee: VB Fee (entered VB Program Nov 2017)(Fire C of O was Revoked by Fire Inspector Klein) Nuisance: unpaid VB fee Date of Orders: Registration letter sent 11/10/17, Warning letter sent 12/11/17 City of Saint Paul Page 3 Legislative Hearings Meeting Minutes - Action Only April 3, 2018 Work Order #: 17-212768, Inv # 1341236 Returned Mail?: No Comments: Category 2, VB opened 11/9/17. Per Ramsey County Property Records, the property's ownership was updated based on a Quit Claim Deed that was filed in August from Barbara Stochl to Serenity Holdings LLC. Mr. Stochl: I was confused on the Revocation of the Fire C of O because it's never been a rental property Mr. Yannarelly: did you appeal the C of O Revocation? Mr. Stochl: I tried but it's not a rental property; it's a house that's been in the family for about 98 years, now Mr. Yannarelly: I don't know the history of the C of O but it had a C of O Revoked by the fire inspector; the owner of record with Ramsey County is listed as Serenity Holdings LLC Mr. Stochl: Wells Fargo got it back Dec 22, 2017; there was a time between Aug 31, 2017 & Sep 1, 2017 where my brother's wife tried to do a Quit Sale; at that point, Champion Reverse Mortgage had already paid Wells Fargo the full amount owed on the house Mr. Stochl: I did ask Wells Fargo if they could be here but..... I'm the owner's son; my mom's name is Barbara A. Stochl & she's the owner; things got a little confusing; I called the bank & asked them & they said, "After the new bank, Champion, caught the error after they had already paid Wells Fargo the money; Wells Fargo ended up paying them back what they had just been paid by Champion;" so, more or less, the house ended up right back where it had started; it's a mess Mr. Yannarelly: who is Huan Dao? he's listed as the C of O Responsible Party Mr. Stochl: I have no idea -when the fire inspector was out there, he had my name on the paperwork -is there any way to correct that? Mr. Yannarelly: your bank would have to send whatever they have to Ramsey County Recorder Office Ms. Vang: we rely on Ramsey County's record; the only person of record that we have is a Quit Claim Deed for Serenity Holdings LLC, listed as owner Mr. Stochl: when I talked to the bank, they said that Champion Reverse Mortgage wasn't paid by Huan Dao & the amount owed in $196,000; with a reverse mortgage, there's only 2 ways out of it: 1) you'd pass away; of 2) you're still alive & you don't want the property, you can just hand the keys back to the bank; but you can't do a Quit Sale with a reverse mortgage Ms. Vang: so you're saying that the bank shared information with you that your mother could not have done a Quit Claim Deed because of the reverse mortgage (?) Mr. Stochl: yep; they would have had to pay the full amount off on the house & the full amount was just under $200,000 City of Saint Paul Page 4 Legislative Hearings Meeting Minutes - Action Only April 3, 2018 Ms. Vang: do you have documentation of that process - when you met with Wells Fargo & a representative? Mr. Yannarelly: is there an ownership dispute? There's a note that says the sheriff had an eviction on the property Mr. Stochl: that's my brother's wife; she didn't want to be found out that she had done something that she wasn't supposed to do -we have all the paperwork from the bank Mr. Yannarelly: the VB Registration fee has to be appealed by the owner; the owner of record is Serenity Holdings LLC; & if you're trying to change that, you're in the wrong venue; we're not the venue to change ownership Mr. Stochl: where would I go to do that? Mr. Yannarelly: Ramsey County Ms. Vang: bring your paperwork to Ramsey County -the owner of record needs to pay this VB fee & Serenity Holdings is listed as the owner & they are not disputing it -will recommend approval of the assessment -CCPH Apr 18, 2018 Ms. Mai Vang: the bill won't come to you though; it will go to Serenty Holdings, LLC; they will be responsible for paying the bill; if they don't, it will go onto the property taxes ___ Approve the assessment. Referred to the City Council due back on 4/18/2018 8 RLH TA 18-147 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 164 STEVENS STREET WEST. (File No. VB1808, Assessment No. 188810) Sponsors: Noecker 4/3/18: Approve; no show. 5/2/18: Follow-up: 02/27/2018: *Recheck - Per Marcia Moermond: Allow 2018 VB fee to go to assessment, if owner has permits finalized by May 1, 2018, Ms. Moermond will recommend to the City Council that the VB fee assessment should be deleted. If owner is not in compliance, Ms. Moermond will consider prorating fee once project is complete. ~MD All Vacant Building files were closed by May 2, 2018. Referred to the City Council due back on 5/16/2018 10:00 a.m. Hearings Special Tax Assessments (G, T, V) **A IS BEING ADDED** 9 RLH TA 18-88 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 869 FLANDRAU STREET. (File No. J1806A, Assessment No. 188506) (Legislative City of Saint Paul Page 5 Legislative Hearings Meeting Minutes - Action Only April 3, 2018 Hearing on April 3) Sponsors: Bostrom Owner, Andrea Durham, appeared. Joe Yannarelly: -this was a summary abatement order to remove multiple wood pallets in the yard -Issued on October 24, 2017 with compliance date of October 31st, on Nov 1, recheck and found non-compliance and a work order was sent to Parks to perform an abatement that was done on November 1 (correction November 2) for $316.00, service charge of $162 for a total of $478.00 -Notice was sent to Andrea Durham and also to a John Hebert in Urbandale IA Nhia Vang: -can we watch the video Mai Vang: -I am looking for it -what is the time period Nhia Vang: -November 2 Mai Vang: -unable to find video Nhia Vang: -why appealing Ms. Durham: -someone I talked to I found that the pallets were removed from my property -I was told to fill out the post card and go to hearing - I was actually needing those pallets for a project I was doing -I also had surgery and was out of work and wasn't able to check my mails or remove the pallets even if I knew about it -I went out one day and found they were gone Nhia Vang: -if you are looking to reclaim the pallets, you may file a claim with the City -without video, I am going to recommend deleting the assessment Referred to the City Council due back on 4/4/2018 10 RLH TA 18-133 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 507 MINNEHAHA AVENUE EAST. (File No. J1807A, Assessment No. 188507) Sponsors: Brendmoen Owner called and stated he missed the hearing due to a late flight. Rescheduled to April 17. Laid Over to the Legislative Hearings due back on 4/17/2018 11 RLH TA 18-128 Ratifying the Appealed Special Tax Assessment for property at 280 STINSON STREET. (File No. J1807A, Assessment No. 188507) City of Saint Paul Page 6 Legislative Hearings Meeting Minutes - Action Only April 3, 2018 Sponsors: Thao Jose Aguirre Flores, owner, appeared. Supervisor Joe Yannarelly: Cost: $400 Service Charge: $162 Total Assessment: $562 Gold Card Returned by: ROSALIO CASTANEDA Type of Order/Fee: SUMMARY ABATEMENT Nuisance: FAILURE TO MAINTAIN EXTERIOR PROPERTY Date of Orders: 11-28-17 Compliance Date: 12-5-17 Re-Check Date: 12-5-17 Date Work Done: 12-6-17 Work Order #: 17-219124 Returned Mail?: NO Comments: History of Orders on Property: GARBAGE HAULER ASSESSMENTS VIDEO - crew removed TV, trash bags, furniture, chair, mattress, box spring, etc over the entire yard Mr. Flores: I didn't realize that there was so much garbage there; I didn't know anything about the garbage until now; the city must have picked up the garbage before I went there to get that car towed (silver BMW); I have nothing to dispute Ms. Nhia Vang: Approve and spread over 3 years. Referred to the City Council due back on 5/2/2018 Special Tax Assessments - ROLLS 12 RLH AR 18-31 Ratifying the assessments for Towing of Abandoned Vehicle service during March 2017 at 682 MAGNOLIA AVENUE EAST. (File No. J1805V, Assessment No. 188007) Sponsors: Brendmoen Approve; no show. Referred to the City Council due back on 5/16/2018 13 RLH AR 18-28 Ratifying the assessments for Collection of Vacant Building Registration fees billed during May 17 to November 22, 2017. (File No. VB1808, Assessment No. 188810) Sponsors: Brendmoen Referred to the City Council due back on 5/16/2018 14 RLH AR 18-29 Ratifying the assessments for Boarding and/or Securing services during December 2017. (File No. J1807B, Assessment No. 188108) Sponsors: Brendmoen City of Saint Paul Page 7 Legislative Hearings Meeting Minutes - Action Only April 3, 2018 Referred to the City Council due back on 5/16/2018 15 RLH AR 18-30 Ratifying the assessments for Trash Hauling services during January 2 to 31, 2018. (File No. J1808G, Assessment No. 188708) Sponsors: Brendmoen Referred to the City Council due back on 5/16/2018 City of Saint Paul Page 8