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1535 Sextant Avenue West Roseville, MN 55113 March 17, 2004 Mayor Craig Klausing and Members of the City Council City of Roseville 2660 Civic Center Drive Roseville, MN 55113 Dear Mayor Klausing and City Council Members: I am writing as a current resident and lessee of a single family dwelling in Roseville to draw your attention to conditions within this city that are producing unsafe and substandard living unit conditions that I have discovered, in conversations with your fire chief and one of your building inspectors, that create not only unsanitary living conditions but also the potential for serious accidents including tragic fires, and therefore warrant your immediate attention. When I signed a lease in July 2003 for my current single-family unit owned by Jim Cox, owner of Cox Insurance at 2469 University Ave., St. Paul, MN, the home was substandard but I was assured that these conditions would be corrected immediately. What I found when I moved in was a house with no smoke/fire detectors, electrical outlets that were inoperable because the receptacles were filled with paint, old, worn, filthy carpeting, dead mice in the cupboards and stove, toilets, bath and shower that were plugged, and a faulty furnace. Subsequently I had to resolve the most pressing conditions, including fixing a11 the plumbing myself and purchasing my own, new kitchen stove. But it took until January 2004 for the furnace to be fixed and the smoke detectors to be installed, all of which was finally accomplished when I threatened to withhold my February rent and place it in an escrow account pending the repairs. As a result of my experience I have spoken to Fire Chief Richard Gasaway and one of the city's building inspectors and discovered that they seemed frustrated, (my opinion) by the lack of any effective means of requiring landlords to maintain a safe and healthy interior environmentwithin their properties. These Roseville officials explained to me that current ordinances allow them to inspect only the exterior of rental homes, thus allowing potentially hazardous conditions to exist that produce dangerous conditions for the residents. Therefore, I am contacting you to determine what the City Council can do to remedy the situation. Specifically, I would like to call upon you to work with your Fire Chief and Building Inspectors to draft an ordinance requiring owners of rental properties in the City of Roseville to maintain safe and sanitary home interiors as well as exteriors. As the Fire Chief explained to me, current ordinances allow the City to inspect the exterior, but not the interior, of housing units. To assure compliance without requiring additional city inspectors, the city could require a11 rental unit owners to obtain from their lessees a signed document confirming that their rental units are up to code standards established by the city. Such an annual review would assure that renters are living in safe and sanitary conditions and that conditions do not create a habitat at risk for fire. It will be interesting to read about or hear how the process moves forward to alleviate these unsafe and unsanitary conditions within the city of Roseville. Thank you for your attention to this immediate concern. Sincerely, _ _��_ - �� . Dan Buckley �-�- 1� v� A, �� - �� -